


The Girl Who Has Everything

by AkinoAme



Category: Kamen Rider OOO
Genre: Escapism, Idiots with Feelings, Kinda, Multi, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-04-19 19:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 49,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AkinoAme/pseuds/AkinoAme
Summary: Post-episode 36. After Hina's dream is destroyed, it's difficult to return to a normal life. And while the Greeed have joined forces, Mezool worries that OOO may be too dangerous for them to handle. But a girl with no dream may give her an idea--something with fins, maybe. And such interesting desires might make Hina worth keeping around.





	1. Take A Gulp, Take A Breath

                The day before Hina was supposed to be released from the hospital, Eiji told her that Chiyoko was planning a party for her. It wouldn't be a big party, like the one that celebrated her win at the school fashion show, but they wanted to do something nice for her now that she was better.

                She knew they meant well, but she didn't have it in her to celebrate. After all, she _wasn't_ better—she'd woken up and regained her strength, but not her dream. That was gone forever.

                So she did her best to check herself out of the hospital without anyone finding out. She'd requested an earlier release, met with the doctors and nurses quickly, and paid her bill with a minimum of trouble. But still, somehow, Eiji had managed to meet up with her outside.

                For a moment, both seemed to freeze. Where Eiji only looked surprised, Hina stared at him in shock—had he somehow _sensed_ she was trying to leave early?

                "Eiji..." she said finally, guiltily.

                He either missed or ignored that note in her voice, instead smiling and saying, "I guess I made it in time, then. I was going to walk you home."

                "You don't have to..." she tried to insist, but he shook his head.

                "No, it's okay. You just got checked out—you shouldn't be all by yourself."

                There was more to it than that, but Eiji wasn't going to just segue into it right now. Rather, he insisted, "I thought about bringing flowers, but I wasn't sure what you would like. I'm really not good at picking that kind of thing out—Chiyoko probably would know better..."

                She nodded absently, half-hoping he would just come right out and say it. He wanted her to go to the party—no, that wasn't quite it; he _thought_ it would be better for her if she did. Just like when he thought it would be a good idea to ask what she wanted about Ankh, while she was lying in the hospital, unable to want or feel anything. Everything had seemed so far away then, brought crashing back into focus when he asked, when Ankh grabbed him in anger.

                "Where's Ankh?" she managed to ask.

                Now, his expression slipped a little, as he admitted, "He stayed behind."

                Meaning he hadn't wanted to have anything to do with her after that little discussion. If there was anything left in her to feel, she felt relieved that he wasn't there right now. She wasn't sure she could face him, even after inviting him to stay.

                And then they were at the door to her apartment, and everything felt horribly real again. It had only been a few days ago that she'd cut her clothing designs to shreds, barely aware of Shoko and Eiji entering and trying to stop her, until he pulled the scissors out of her hands.

                She'd asked him for help then.  Something, to help deal with the sudden, overwhelming sense that everything she'd loved in life was meaningless, like somehow, he was the expert and would know how to fix it.

                He'd done the best he could. And now, he caught her hesitation and softly warned, "We cleaned up, after you woke up. Nobody wanted you to come home to, well..."

                The first real emotion in days hit her—gratitude—and she unlocked and opened the door. Everything was as it should have been—her bedroom door was open, revealing a perfectly clean floor, without a trace of thread or fabric. But it was when she opened her closet that the illusion faded—only her everyday clothes were left, along with a bare handful of outfits Eiji had prevented her from cutting up.

                Suddenly, she felt a hand on her arm, and it broke the spell. Eiji was reaching for her hand, trying to comfort her as he asked, "Are you okay?"

                She didn't have the same courage Eiji did to smile and lie, but she reached for the hangers, looking through the dresses. "This is it?"

                He nodded reluctantly. "I thought maybe there might be something we could save, so I took it back to Cous Coussier. But..."

                But Ankh had probably yelled at him for trying to piece together the unpieceable and made him throw it away. As with everything Ankh-related lately, she had no idea how she felt about it. But at least it hadn't forced Eiji to take on another burden he didn't need right now.

                A very small part of her wanted to cry. The rest of her couldn't be bothered to. It was over. She couldn't summon up any passion or interest in designing anything—what was the use in continuing school? Maybe she _should_ just drop out and work full-time at Cous Coussier. It would make things a lot easier on both Chiyoko and Eiji if she did.

                "There were a few things we managed to save," he continued, even though she felt so detached from him, he might as well have been on some separate world. And of course, Eiji being Eiji, he reached out to pull her across the divide between them, whether she wanted to come or not. He took out a delicate emerald green dress—fitted and long, ending with a flared hem. "This one, for example. I've never seen it before."

                Without meaning to, she reached out and touched the shimmery green fabric, gazing at it distantly. "It was kind of a vanity project."

                He looked at her in confusion, clearly waiting for an explanation. When he realized he might not get it, he insisted, "It's pretty. Did you make it for a special occasion?"

                "It's...it's supposed to be a mermaid dress," she confessed hesitantly. She would have left it at that, but he was still waiting, so she explained, "When I was little, I used to love the story of _The Little Mermaid._ I read the fairytale all the time, watched the movie...I even wanted to be a mermaid myself."

                He was smiling still, as if he'd figured out some secret reason why she'd spared this dress instead of all the rest.

                "So you made it for yourself?"

                Part of her hated having to dash his hopes, but she stuffed it back into the closet, admitting, "I never really finished it. Between school and work, I never had the chance to work on it. I just shoved it back there and forgot about it."

                But even that wasn't enough to discourage him, and he asked, "What does it need?"

                She shrugged, trying to summon some kind of creative spark. She could remember wanting to add silver trim to the bodice and strands of glass pearls to accent the bustline. She'd picked up beads and ribbons specifically for that, but she couldn't manage the mental image of what she could do with them.

                "I don't know," she admitted. "A headband, maybe?"

                "Well..." He scratched his head, clearly at a loss for advice on fashion. Then he smiled again, insisting, "Why don't you wear it tonight? I'll let Chiyoko know—we can set up a whole mermaid theme, it'll be fun!"

                She started to shake her head. "I don't think..."

                Of course, he was undaunted, continuing, "We'll dress up—maybe we can even get Ankh to..."

                And there, she cracked. Before she could help it, tears started rolling down her cheeks, and she started shaking.

                Eiji froze for a moment before offering his scarf for her to wipe her eyes. But by then, she'd regained enough composure to shake her head and walk off in search of a tissue.

                "Sorry," he said.

                She shook her head again. "It wasn't you. I just...I don't think this is a good idea."

                For a brief moment, his expression was agonizingly sympathetic, like he knew what it was like to have everything he ever wanted ripped out of his hands and smashed into pieces. Like he knew what it was like to feel completely empty inside, like there was a hollow space where the soul had once been.

                His smile was softer now as he reached for her hand, squeezing it gently.

                "I know it's hard. But...maybe this will help. At least just having everyone around you, trying to help."

                She looked down at his hand for a moment before looking up at him, wondering where that endless confidence came from and why he thought she might have even a fraction of it. Then, mistaking her look for a promise, he nodded and said, "I'll see what I can do, then come back and pick you up in a couple of hours, okay?"

                He was gone before she had the chance to tell him no. Which meant she really had no other choice, and she wondered if that wasn't the whole point.

                She sighed and made her way back to her closet, searching for leftover beads. It would be a mistake, but at least she could tell Eiji she'd tried. Maybe then, he wouldn't be nearly as disappointed in her as she felt he ought to be.

 

~~~

 

                As the lightning from another storm lit up the interior of Maki's house, Mezool paced in frustration. She had five Cores—normally enough to be a threat to OOO and Ankh, but now that they had those new purple Medals, it was pitiful. OOO had to be eliminated, but how?

                Thunder cracked outside, just as she sensed another Greeed nearby—Kazari, who slouched against the doorframe as he asked, "Making yourself comfortable?"

                "Kazari," she answered flatly. She knew better than to try to confront him, not right now, as strong as he was and when he had some of her Medals.

                "Looks like you're thinking hard about something," he noticed, lazily making his way inside. "Care to share?"

                She allowed herself a snort of disbelief. "It seems you know a lot about sharing."

                He gave her a predatory smirk, but he wasn't making any move to attack her. "Having all of these Medals gives me a slight advantage, yes."

                "But not enough against OOO," she pointed out, and his expression soured. "So, we're not the only ones who've been beaten by him."

                "OOO is a problem," he admitted. "That new combo especially."

                "Those are the same Medals our purple boy's got, right?" she asked. He looked to the side, as if trying to make sure no one else—specifically Maki—was listening in. "So, they're evenly matched?"

                "One can probably take the rest from the other, but OOO doesn't have any control over them," he said. "Given how powerful he is, it makes everything worse."

                "He seemed pretty in control when we fought," she said. A rare glimmer of interest appeared in Kazari's eyes—good, she'd given him a reason to keep her around. "You didn't know?"

                "Didn't really stick around for that part," he admitted. "It's not a good idea to give OOO a reason to notice you when he's using that combo. So what happened?"

                "You tell me," she insisted. "That Yummy got him—one of yours?"

                "His," Kazari said, gesturing in a vague area behind him—so, the purple boy had a few other tricks up his sleeve. "It was supposed to destroy dreams—guess it backfired on OOO."

                "That's an understatement," she said, letting slip a trace of bitterness. OOO didn't have any personal desire—she could sense the frightening void within him as clear as day. If he'd ever had any, how could the Yummy end up awakening them enough to give him control?

                "It's made him twice as dangerous as before," she admitted.

                "It did something, though," Kazari pointed out. "It got his little girlfriend."

                Mezool turned back to him, intrigued. She remembered the young woman he'd kidnapped, and how OOO was willing to turn over a truck full of Cell Medals to them in exchange for her safety.

                "The one he always drops everything to save?" she checked.

                Kazari gave that dangerous smile again. Now, they were on the same page. "That's the one. He'll even abandon Ankh to go after her."

                She could use that information, and she began pacing again, this time in concentration. A girl without dreams—OOO had to be worried about her. Worried enough that he might even be willing to give up the Cores this time. But no, they couldn't use something as crude as another kidnapping attempt. They needed to gain control of her somehow.

                A broken dream...

                "I wonder," she mused, finally placing her hand on the window and tracing the raindrops. "What kind of Yummy can come from a disorganized desire like that?"

                "Oh?" Kazari asked. "You've got a plan?"

                "It depends," she said. "Are you interested?"

                Kazari sauntered over toward the window. "So you need my help on this one—must be a big one."

                "A parasitic Yummy is better for this," she answered. "OOO doesn't think twice about destroying a clutch of eggs. I want something that'll keep him from attacking."

                "Make him too afraid to fight back," he realized. "It does have a ring to it. Might be worth braving the weather."

                Now that she was sure he was with her, she teased, "Afraid of a little rain?"

                "Me?" he asked. "I was only worried about you. After all, you don't want to mess up your pretty hair."

                He held up a lock of her hair, but she only smirked and opened the window, calling on the rain to come toward her. Immediately, he took a step back, but she closed her eyes and reveled in the water as it thoroughly soaked her human form.

                "Okay," he said, a little surprised. "So I guess this is part of your plan?"

                "Of course," she replied. "It won't do us any good if we scare the girl directly back to OOO's arms. We need her to lower her guard."

                He raised an eyebrow. "And this does that how, exactly?"

                She allowed herself a smug smile. "Just follow along."

 

~~~

 

                Hina sat at the kitchen table, putting the finishing touches on her headband. She'd managed to glue a line of pearls onto it, and now she was tying pale blue ribbons into a bow on the side.

                She stood up and walked over to her mirror to try it on. The headband sat comfortably on her, and the thin, lacy ribbons framed her face like a mermaid princess.

                She sighed and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Some princess—she was too strong and clumsy, and she couldn't seem to do anything that mattered. Besides, what kind of princess went and got her dream destroyed anyway?

                She shook her head and took off the headband. It really was no use. Eiji had good intentions, but he couldn't see how much it was hurting her, asking her to try to pretend she could be the person she used to be. What was the point of even going to that party, then?

                Someone knocked at the door—Eiji already? She glanced at the clock and sighed again. He was early.

                "I'm coming," she said quietly, knowing that in just a few minutes, she'd have to tell him the exact opposite.

                But the knocking continued even as she began unlocking the door—that couldn't be Eiji. He was never that impatient; only Ankh was, and if he needed her for some reason, he wouldn't bother knocking. When she opened the door, she found a drenched teenage girl, just a little younger than her, shivering on the other side.

                "Please," the girl begged. "Help me."

                Hina couldn't say no. She brought her inside and locked the door behind her.

                "Are you okay?" she asked. "Do you need me to call the police?"

                The girl shook her head. Hina didn't know what to do—something was clearly wrong, and she should call someone for help. But the girl looked too scared to even talk, and she couldn't risk her running off into possible danger.

                She found herself asking what Eiji would do, and she realized she could at least start with the smallest problem first—the girl was soaked. So she said, "I'll get you a towel. Wait here," and hurried off to get some clean linens.

                The girl was standing in the exact same spot when she returned, and Hina wrapped the towel around her. She'd stopped shivering, at least, but Hina had to help her out of her shoes and lead her toward the kitchen.

                "I can get you some coffee to help warm you up," she offered, filling up the pot. "And I don't know if I have any clothes that would fit you, but at least they'd be dry."

                "Thank you," the girl answered.

                She kept her eyes on Hina the entire time—something Hina couldn't blame her for, even if she was acting strangely. As she grabbed a couple of mugs, she explained, "My brother is a police officer, even though he's not here right now—are you sure you don't want me to call?"

                "No," the girl insisted, "I'm sure."

                It still didn't feel right—there had to be more to this than she was saying, but Hina couldn't think what she was supposed to do next.

                "What's your name?" she tried.

                The girl only stared at her, as if dazed, then wrapped her arms around herself again. Okay, Hina could ask questions later. She had to get her some warm clothes.

                The girl followed behind, watching as Hina ignored the dress on her bed in favor of the outfits in her closet. The girl noticed it, however, and asked, "What's that?"

                Hina tried not to look at it. "Just a party dress."

                "Were you going to a party?" she asked.

                Hina forced a smile as she turned around to measure some clothes against her. "Don't worry—I was going to cancel anyway. The weather's too bad."

                "It's not the weather," the girl said, giving her a piercing glance that somehow reminded her of Ankh. Hina felt her heart skip a beat. "Something happened."

                Hina had the distinct feeling she was being probed, but she didn't know why. But at least the girl was opening up now, so she said, "You don't have to worry about that. I wasn't going to miss anything important."

                "If you don't want to go, then don't go," the girl advised, fingering the sheer fabrics. "But it's no reason not to indulge in yourself."

                The advice was strange, but it had a familiar echo to it, one that Hina couldn't quite place. Before she could try to argue, the girl picked up the dress and held it up against her.

                "Do what makes _you_ happy," she said.

                She held Hina's gaze almost hypnotically, and Hina felt like somehow, she was trying to draw something to the surface of her soul—something that made her happy. Something that she wanted. But that was silly, and Hina only shook her head.

                "Are you happy?" the girl asked pointedly this time, and Hina felt ice water run through her veins—something that brought a look of satisfaction to the girl's face. "Then prove me wrong. Dress up tonight, even if you're just staying in."

                Slowly, Hina took the dress and sighed. "If it makes you happy..."

                She turned around and started to undress, but to her surprise, the girl began to help. Cold hands gently removed Hina's shirt and bra, sending a shiver through her. She had the distinct feeling that she was a dress-up doll as she began taking the gown off the hanger while the girl removed her pants. It felt like she was being played with, somehow, and a warm blush rose to her face as the girl placed a hand against her back and zipped up the dress, then tied the sash into a bow.

                "There," the girl said, turning Hina around and brushing a wisp of hair from her face—the light touch against Hina's skin could not have been an accident. "That's better, isn't it?"

                Hina couldn't feel any more uncomfortable. She took a step back and said, "I'll get the coffee. You should get dressed," before rushing to the kitchen.

                She poured herself a mug and picked it up with trembling hands. The coffee was hot, but she still took a big gulp before a deep breath, trying to focus. Something was very wrong. The girl was setting off alarm bells in her mind, but she couldn't understand why.

                Maybe she should call Eiji after all. She made her way over to the table to get her phone, but something glimmered in the corner of her eyes—something silver. There, right beside her shoes and where the girl's should have been, were a few Cell Medals.

                "What is it like?" she heard the girl ask, just as a crash of thunder made her jump.

                She had changed into Hina's discarded clothes, which did hang off of her slightly, but the more she walked closer, the more her body seemed to change to fit them—as if she were studying Hina's body and trying to make hers match.

                "What's what like?" Hina asked, edging her way back, hoping to make it to the door before the girl could get to her.

                "Being human," the girl said, picking up Hina's discarded cup and placing her lips against it. "Human senses, human emotions. Knowing whether something's too much or not enough." She took a sip, but she didn't react to the heat or the taste. "To me, it's always 'not enough.'"

                "You're a Greeed," Hina realized, wracking her brain for the names Ankh and Eiji always went through. "Mezool."

                "Oh?" she asked, taking another step closer. "You're clever. I suppose OOO and Ankh told you all about me."

                "I know enough!" Hina bluffed, hoping her pitiful lack of knowledge wouldn't show. Eiji had always tried to protect her from knowing too much, and Ankh didn't care to share information. Now, she wished she'd made them tell her—it was going to get her killed.

                "Then you know what'll happen if I do this," Mezool answered, flicking her hand.

                Hina ducked immediately, assuming that it was a Cell Medal coming her way. But no—a stream of water appeared from Mezool's hand and unlatched the balcony door, allowing it to open with a gust of wind. To Hina's horror, a light-haired man in yellow entered, dripping wet from the rain.

                "Remember me?" he asked.

                Hina bolted to her feet and ran for the door. She had just placed her hand on the knob when a blast of water hit her from behind, pressing her against it.

                "I guess so," Kazari replied, walking up while Mezool kept her pinned against the door. "Oh, don't worry. We don't want you hurt. It'd upset OOO too much if that happened."

                "What do you want?" she asked, carefully pushing against the wood.

                "Just to help," Mezool insisted, her voice slow and sickly sweet. "So many scattered desires inside you—you really have lost your dream, haven't you?"

                "What's it mean to you?" Hina spat, defiant. She almost had it. If she could keep them distracted long enough, maybe she could get free.

                "It means everything," Kazari said. "OOO failed you, didn't he? He and Ankh. Doesn't that make you angry? Doesn't it make you want revenge?"

                She was angry, all right, but not at Eiji and Ankh. And it was just what she needed. Summoning all of her strength, she pushed against the door and got herself free of the stream. She tumbled to the side and scrambled for cover underneath the coffee table as Mezool blasted at her again. She could hear the wood beginning to splinter under the pressure, as Mezool called out, "It's better if we don't have to fight you—just because we don't want to hurt you doesn't mean we won't go hard on you if we have to."

                Hina had no doubts about that and began reaching for the couch behind her. Before the table could break, she lifted up the couch and threw it at them, only for Kazari to tear it apart with a cyclone.

                "Forgot to warn you," he said. "She's annoyingly strong."

                At least they were stunned enough that Hina could run over to the kitchen table and begin throwing chairs at them. But this time, they were ready, catching the furniture and ripping it into shreds. Hina found herself backing up toward the balcony, with no means of escape. For all of her strength, she didn't have any powers that could help her, and now, she could feel the rain circling around her in snake-like rivulets, binding her fast.

                "Out of options," Kazari noticed. "But either way, we should make sure that strength is the first thing to go, right, Mezool?"

                "You're still so boorish, Kazari," Mezool said, walking closer. "This needs a woman's touch."

                "Oh?" he asked. "What do you have in mind?"

                Mezool continued to adjust her form as she approached Hina, until they were eye-to-eye and their body types uncannily similar. Mezool caught Hina's reproachful looks and laughed, "Oh? Don't like your own body?"

                "Not when a Greeed's using it," Hina spat, perhaps a little too venomously.

                "It's personal for you, isn't it?" Mezool asked, drawing a finger across her cheek as angry tears started to flow. "That body Ankh's using—it belongs to someone of yours." Hina's breath hitched, and she fought back, trying to get free. But even if it was only water that held her, it was stronger than she was.

                "What if we gave it back to her?" Kazari suggested. "It would be easy enough."

                "You think that's enough for me to betray Ankh and Eiji?" she guessed. "You're too late—I already said he could stay."

                "How cute," Kazari said, rolling his eyes.

                "No, you wouldn't betray either of them of your own free will," Mezool said. "You care about them too much—maybe even love them?"

                Hina felt her heart skip again. Worse, both of the Greeed felt it too. Their heads snapped in her direction, and she felt naked under their gaze.

                "Love?" Kazari asked incredulously. "For Ankh? Is that it?"

                "No," she denied. "It's not..."

                "There's more," Mezool realized, placing a hand in the middle of Hina's chest. "I can feel it right here. You want _much_ more."

                It was happening again—desires were bubbling to the surface, bringing a very warm, tingling feeling all throughout her body. She could feel all of her nerves lighting up and muscles tensing, and she fought to breathe evenly as Mezool tried to increase the strain.

                "You don't want me," she insisted. "I don't have a dream. There's nothing you can..."

                "What's a dream but a larger desire?" Kazari asked, bending to pick up her headband and twirling it in his hand. "All you have to do is close your eyes."

                Mezool took the headband from him and gently placed it on Hina's head. Hina wished she wouldn't touch her—she felt hyper-sensitive, with all of her base desires magnified. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut as Mezool softly, seductively whispered in her ear, "They've all asked so much from you, haven't they? Why don't you take care of yourself for a change? Think of what makes _you_ happy and _take it_!"

                The desires were racing through her mind at dizzying speeds, Mezool running through them until she could find one untainted image—a teenage girl hiding a dress in her room out of embarrassment, afraid to admit that maybe some part of her was still a little girl who wanted to be a mermaid.

                Mezool pulled back, and Hina gasped for breath. "Mermaids?" she asked, as Hina blushed. "Oh, don't be embarrassed. It's your dream, right?" She glanced at Kazari. "Why don't we make it come true?"

                She produced a Cell Medal, just as Kazari did the same. Hina felt a slot form on her forehead and struggled again to get free, but to no avail. The Greeed flicked their Medals at her, and she only had a second to hold her breath before the water expanded around her into a large sphere. Bandages began to form around her legs, squeezing them together. More appeared on her neck in flaps, and she reached up to try to tear them away before they could strangle her.

                Mezool was reaching into the water bubble for her, and Hina had the wild thought to reach out for her and fight back. She grabbed onto Mezool's hand, but she couldn't seem to get a tight enough grip on it. The more she struggled, the more Mezool smirked at her, reaching farther in.

                "Still trying to fight?" Mezool asked. Her voice sounded watery and dreamlike through the bubble. "Let's see if this changes things."

                A flash of blue appeared in her hand, and Hina knew something had to be wrong because even Kazari looked shocked by it. If she had more time, maybe she would have figured out what it was and why it seemed to worry him so much. But Mezool flicked it at Hina's chest, and she jerked as it entered her body. Intense pain shot through her, and for a moment, all she could see was bright blue light taking over her vision as bubbles of her own precious air came out of her mouth from her silent screams.

                "A Core Medal?" Kazari asked, turning an accusatory look on Mezool. "That wasn't part of the plan."

                "Just to speed things along," she said, flexing her hand to take care of the numbness from giving it up. "You might want to do the same."

                "And why?" he asked.

                Bandages had already covered Hina completely, and she hung limply in the water, unconscious. The bubbles that had escaped her dotted above her head like fish eggs, but there were no Yummies inside them. There was only the human Yummy-Greed hybrid within the water.

                Mezool lovingly stroked the sphere and asked, "How many Medals does Ankh have?"

                "Three, by my count," he answered. "Our little lost bird has six. But what does that have to do with..."

                "We already know OOO won't attack, as long as she's in danger," she pointed out. "But Ankh will. She needs to be strong enough to fight back."

                Kazari manifested the two Medals he'd taken from Mezool long ago. "Have her destroy him? Could be interesting." He tossed them in, watching the bandaged figure jerk in the water as they integrated into her body. "But why do I get the feeling you've got your own agenda too?"

                "I never said I didn't," she argued, calling to her Cores within Hina. With her unconscious, the desires were difficult to manipulate, but bubbles were floating off of her nest and filling the room. Kazari poked at one, but it didn't pop—it felt solid.

                "Very interesting," he decided, cupping it within a soft breeze.

                His breeze flicked some of the other bubbles out into the storm, where the winds carried them farther into the city. He peered over the balcony, curious.

                "Wonder where those are going..." He transformed into his true form, then perched on the balcony, ready to jump.

                "Where are you going?" Mezool asked.

                "Oh, you know what they say," he replied, cupping his bubble. "Curiosity killed the cat. Satisfaction will bring it back, though."

                Mezool glared at him in suspicion, but he leapt off, seeking his prey. She would have to just let that one go—he was too smart to risk exposing their scheme this early.

                "I'll have to find some place for you," she decided, turning back to Hina. After all, OOO would be back for her, and while she was progressing well, she wasn't nearly ready to face him. By now, the transformation was nearing completion—the bandages had peeled away, revealing that she did, indeed, look just like a mermaid—the Yummy/Greeed hybrid had taken over the lower half of her body, replacing her legs with a green betta fish's veil tail. Her dress had incorporated into its form—while the bodice remained cloth, at her waist, the sash and skirt had become fins and tail, twitching every so often as she slept. Along the sides of her neck were faint gills that opened and closed as she drew oxygen from the water.

                "My, you ended up quite the beauty," Mezool said, reaching into the bubble to stroke the girl's face again. "But you're not done yet. Still, I'm sure you're ready to start dreaming, aren't you?" She gently tugged at the Medals within her, calling, "Time to wake up, little mermaid."

                Hina's eyes opened with a snap, her irises shining blue.


	2. Flipping Your Fins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares fade into a beautiful daydream for Hina with everything going perfectly...until Kazari gets involved.

                Hina's eyes opened with a snap. She could feel her heart pounding, and her head swimming. She tried to take a breath, but she only took in a gulp of water.

                Panicking, she sat up, and it took a couple of minutes for her to realize she wasn't drowning. Bubbles passed by as her hair floated around her like a halo—she was definitely underwater, and sitting in an enormous, open scallop shell that served as her bed. The room around her was a grotto with high arches, supported by expertly carved white, limestone pillars. Every arch was adorned with a relief of a mermaid holding another large scallop shell, all embellished with mother of pearl. Lengths of golden sea silk stretched out from the tops of the pillars, suspending a chandelier, assembled from shells of windowpane oyster and shaped like a Japanese sea nettle. Gauzy fabric was suspended from the middle of the bell to replicate the jellyfish's arms, and sea fireflies were trapped within the bell, producing a constant flicker of blue light. As Hina watched, the chandelier spun gently, dropping fine streams of tiny bubbles to the floor, trailing like swirling tentacles.

                Across the room was a vanity, consisting of a giant queen conch shell with an extended lip, appearing to grow out of the limestone and coral walls. Sitting on the vanity was a small canvas tote bag, decorated with netting and paua pearls. A highly polished black pearl oyster served as a mirror, while its other half was suspended by branches of stony coral, creating a chair. Hina could see herself, covered in a blanket of sea silk, wide-eyed and frantic, reflected in the shell.

                She sat up, pulling off the blanket to reveal that she was wearing a green silk bodice that seemed to blend into a long, green fishtail that took over the lower half of her body. The bodice seemed familiar, but the tail definitely did not. It wasn't the only weird thing about her—again, as she tried to take a breath, she inhaled water, but somehow she seemed to be breathing just fine. Gingerly, she ran her fingers along her neck and found gills filtering oxygen from the water.

                What was this place? How did she get there? And why was her body so...

                She got out of bed. It was tricky sliding off of the shell and flicking her tail until she floated over the sand, but fear was a good motivation to try. She had to go, she had to...do something. Figure out what was going on. She had to find...

                She stopped suddenly in panic. Who? Who did she have to find? There was a gaping wound in her memories—she knew who she was, she knew she had important people in her life, but that was it. She couldn't fill in the blanks.

                _Something happened,_ she vaguely recalled. There had been someone, and she had been scared. Why? What could possibly have frightened her?

                She leaned up against a pillar, clutching her head. The more she tried to remember, the more her head hurt. It was like something inside of her was insisting she shouldn't remember—that she should just accept that whatever it was was gone. After all, she'd be much happier without it, if she just let go.

                Her eyes fell on the mirror, where she saw her reflection ensnared in the eel whips and tentacles of a feminine figure, crowned with an orca's fins. As Hina watched in terror, the figure brought her face closer to the reflection's neck, and Hina shuddered even though she couldn't feel it. The figure brought her gill-like lips up to the mirrored girl's ear and whispered one word:

                _"Forget."_

Hina felt the word hit her like a spell. Her eyes glowed bright blue as her mind went blank. The sea witch—what else could she be?—eased the mermaid's arms to her sides while tiny, glowing, green betta fish began swimming around her. Hina smiled with wonder as the fish circled around; then with a flick of the sea witch's hand, they swam off.

                Hina reached out for one, distressed to see them leave her, but the sea witch held her hand still.

                _"Don't worry about them, little mermaid,"_ she crooned. _"Let them build your world. You focus on being happy in it."_

_Happy?_ Hina wondered. Was she even capable of that anymore? But the sea witch's power was pulling her under, and soon, she could no longer hear her own doubts. This world would be perfect for her, give her everything she could want. Of course she'd be happy.

                _"Now,"_ the sea witch said, and Hina could feel some kind of pressure against her heart. _"Let's see what you want."_

                Something inside her opened, less like a door and more like a dam bursting apart. A flood of unfocused desires rushed through her, overwhelming her senses completely. She could feel her heart pounding, heat rushing through her, her breath quickening.

                _"Release it!"_ the sea witch ordered.

                All around, the fish released bubbles, sending them off in all directions. Hina floated in the midst of it, blind to everything in the intense wave of sheer _want_.

                _"This is all for you,"_ the sea witch said, holding a delicate silver tiara in front of her—filigree, looking not unlike a series of crashing waves that delicately rose to a point in the middle, from which hung a crystal drop, the bottom dotted with pearls. _"Take it!"_

                Hina's fingers curled around the tiara, and the world around her seemed to explode with blue light. New understanding began to dawn on her—it would take time, but everything would make sense again, as the sea witch faded from view and memory.

 

~~~

 

                There was a hotel in Shinagawa that would suit Mezool's purposes nicely. While just about any hotel would work, this one in particular had an in-house aquarium that would allow the girl to swim around once she was strong enough. For now, though, she needed a quiet place to build her strength.

                She used a stream of water to open the window to an unoccupied room and entered, toting the water bubble behind her. The bathtub was small, but she gently placed the bubble in so that Hina could rest in a sitting position. Hina never responded, only staring into space with her heavily lidded eyes still faintly blue, her gills filtering oxygen out of the water while air bubbles floated away.

                The girl wasn't the only one who needed to recover her strength, and as soon as she'd taken care of her little creation, Mezool sank into the bed and reclined against the pillows. Limited though her senses were, she could appreciate the bedding's softness—it was relaxing. Until the girl was ready to move into the aquarium, she could wait.

                Of course, that meant she had to figure out just how they were going to get past all of the humans that would undoubtedly be in her way. Easy as it would be to create Yummies out of all of them, that would only draw OOO's attention, and she hoped to put that off for as long as possible. Soon enough, he would find the destruction in the apartment, and he would begin to panic. If they kept themselves hidden from Ankh as long as possible—with her probably having to siphon Cell Medals off the girl from time to time—then OOO's desperation would grow until he'd do anything to get her back, whether Ankh agreed with it or not.

                And speaking of Ankh, she could only hope that Kazari was leading him away from them. He had his part in this, of course, but Mezool would never find it in her to trust him. He'd only ever looked out for himself, and she didn't doubt that he was still after all of her Medals—all this talk of needing allies aside. With the girl and maybe even OOO on her side, she could potentially overpower him and take his Medals instead, but that would risk her losing control, and that was an experience she'd rather not repeat.

                She called one of the bubbles over to her. Kazari had been fascinated with them, and Hina continued to produce more and more of them, so whatever they were, there was definitely something special about them. She couldn't sense anything specific out of them, but when she placed a probing finger against the bubble, her mind filled with visions of a mermaid's grotto, filled with delicate treasures of the sea.

                It was an enclosed portion of her dream—similar, Mezool suspected, to the eggs she used when fully revived. But instead of draining the desire out of a human until nothing was left, they seemed to draw humans into the desire. She couldn't tell how long the girl would be able to sustain them—after all, Mezool couldn't, and the girl only had a bare fraction of her strength. But still, it was an interesting question to explore down the line.

                She returned to the bathroom and let the water drain away from Hina before breaking down her Greeedified portions into a bare few Cell Medals, quickly absorbing them—not much, but it would be enough. Hundreds of air bubbles were still forming from her desires, so Mezool lifted her out of the tub and placed her arm around her neck to help her walk. Hina was still too deep in sleep to move much, but Mezool was able to coax her to shuffle her feet as she opened the door and brought her out into the hall, both of them surrounded by bubbles.

                Crowds of people stopped to stare, but Mezool urged the bubbles forward. As they began to swirl around the humans, the bubbles began to have a hypnotic, calming effect, as if lulling the humans to sleep. No one was inclined to run away or scream—the thoughts of Hina's underwater wonderland seemed enticing, and soon enough, the people were engulfed in bubble nests and swallowed up in the dream.

                Slowly, one step at a time, they continued, spreading the bubbles across every floor through air vents and elevators, until they reached the outdoor pool. There, Mezool finally had to rest—promising as that experiment was, she had to open the girl's heart more, encourage more intensely personal desires, if she was going to be able to take on the aquarium.

                She led Hina into the water, watching her skirt absorb water and tangle around her feet. That was fine, though. The girl didn't need to swim, just dream. Mezool eased her onto her back, watching her chest rise and fall with every breath as the rain beat down on her—she could feel it, couldn't she? Even with her form broken down, this would help reinforce the illusion of the dream.

                "Now," Mezool whispered, leaning close enough to Hina's face that she could kiss her, if she so wanted. "Open up and let me in."

                She placed her hand on Hina's chest, where the Cores were, and sent a pulse through them. Hina gasped and thrashed, instinctively kicking her legs together as if they were a tail. Mezool held her legs still with water, trying to prevent her from either swimming away or drowning.

                "Show me what you want," she said.

                A painful, heart-twisting desire was stirring inside the girl. Pressing her hand against Hina's chest, Mezool grasped it and pulled it to the surface, as the pool began to foam over with more bubbles.

 

~~~

 

                "Your Highness?" asked a voice that Hina couldn't quite place. "Your Highness, are you awake?"

                She wasn't quite sure about that—her head still felt a little clouded, although whatever had been bothering her before was completely forgotten. There still seemed to be some kind of disconnect, and she couldn't seem to form words before she heard, "Your Highness, I'm coming in!"

                At that point, the person scuttled in, and for a moment, she wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or scream. The top half of his body was humanoid, covered by a skintight tank top in navy blue that was crossed with a grey harness with a bronze buckle, securing bronze pauldrons to his shoulders.

                His lower half, however, was the body of a coconut crab with large pincers—mostly dark brown, but with shocks of bright blue along the edges. This matched the crab crest on the bronze shield strapped to his back, which altogether gave the impression that he had a carapace on his back as well.

                Hina managed to avoid both of her first instincts, but she did fall over, and the half-crab merman winced as he offered her a claw.

                "I apologize, Highness. Did I startle you?"

                She remembered him now—Goto, Captain of the Guard and Royal Chamberlain. She accepted his claw, just as someone else swam in, chiding, "Goto! You should know better than to enter Her Highness's chambers like this!"

                It was Chiyoko, Hina recognized—dressed in a loose, brightly colored top with fringe that perfectly matched her turquoise and orange mandarinfish tail. But as Hina watched her swim closer, the psychedelic patterns seemed to blend together, prompting a vision of a short, tiered party dress.

                Another shock of pain went through Hina's head, and she brought her hand to one of her temples, grimacing.

                "Highness? Your Highness?"

                "It's nothing," she finally said, giving them a weak smile. "Just a headache." Goto still looked worried, but she promised, "It'll pass. I'll be fine."

                "All right," Chiyoko answered, even if Goto seemed to need more convincing. Seeing this, she insisted, "Go tell His Majesty that the Princess is awake and getting ready. We'll be along soon."

                "Yes, my lady," he replied, bowing before he shuffled off.

                "Such a worry-wart," she said, turning back to Hina. "Not everything is a full-scale emergency."

                Hina shook her head, grinning. "And this is definitely not."

                "Exactly," Chiyoko sympathized, sitting her at the chair in front of the vanity. "If you still feel bad, we'll get you something, but it's nothing to cancel your whole day over."

                "What am I doing today?" she asked as Chiyoko began brushing her hair.

                "You have tea in the courtyard, followed by a trip to the nature preserve," she replied, adjusting Hina's headband before deciding to pull back her hair. "I hear they've added a huge carousel."

                "Really?" Hina asked excitedly, trying her hardest to hold still while Chiyoko pinned her hair into an elegant bun.

                Chiyoko nodded. "And after that, a ride through the jellyfish gardens, and finally lunch at the cove."

                "On the surface?" Hina repeated, surprised. "Isn't that a little risky?"

                "Only if you still believe in humans."

                The voice could have stopped her heart. Despite Chiyoko's protests, she turned to see an all too familiar young man with a steel blue betta fish tail, dressed in a silver vest, zipped up to the neck, covering a simple black shirt with long sleeves and silver, trident-shaped cufflinks. A silver circlet crowned his head, emblazoned with the same trident that served as their family's crest.

                Hina swam to her big brother and grabbed him in a hug, all while he stared at her in surprise. But soon, his words sank in, and she argued, "I do _not_ believe in human tales! Honestly, you treat me like a little kid."

                "Says the girl who acts like she hasn't seen me in a year when she first wakes up in the morning," he teased, bopping her lightly on the nose.

                While Hina scowled, Chiyoko swam up, sighing, "Highness..." before fixing the last pin in her hair.

                "Stop giving Chiyoko a hard time," Shingo said. "Are you about ready?"

                "Just about, Your Majesty," Chiyoko answered. "What the Princess is wearing will be fine for tea, but I was thinking something more fun for the reserve."

                "Huh?" Hina asked, looking down at her bodice in concern. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

                "Nothing!" Chiyoko insisted. "It's just..."

                Hina risked a look at her reflection. The dress—the bodice—was pretty, but plain. And try as she might to make the headband work, the outfit didn't seem to accessorize well.

                A bubble of doubt rose—had she completely lost her sense of style? No, it was just that she'd never seriously thought about designing something for herself before, and she had a tendency to play it safe.

                She could be more adventurous. After all, being safe hadn't made her happy.

                She turned back to Chiyoko. "Help me pick something else out. Something...exciting."

                Shingo raised an eyebrow while Chiyoko clapped her hands in delight.

                "Should I have someone deliver your tea?" he asked.

                Chiyoko shook her head. "Oh, don't worry. I'll have her ready soon. Come on!"

                Hina let herself be led to the wardrobe while Shingo shook his head with a laugh. She waited until he left before she began to remove her bodice and Chiyoko started modeling colors and fabrics against her. Maybe it would be fun, letting herself be pampered over and prettied. After all, she was a princess. She might as well look the part.

                She reached for a glittery purple seashell bra and a sheer silk wrap in white, purple, and green watercolors. Chiyoko cried, "Princess, that's beautiful! Now let's redo your hair and find some accessories!" and started leading her back to the chair before she ever had the chance to change. Hina laughed and went along with it, even as she struggled to get the wrap tied, forcing Chiyoko to stop and attend to her clothes.

                It was something she could get used to, and she closed her eyes and let Chiyoko get to work.

 

~~~

 

                The satisfaction that Hina got from seeing her brother again was nearly enough to replenish her hybrid form, but Mezool broke down the Cells and absorbed them herself instead. No sense in making her job harder—not when she still needed to get into the aquarium.

                By now, however, Hina's desires had generated enough bubbles that the entire pool was covered in foam, and loose bubbles were flying away in the storm. It was enough, Mezool decided, and she shaped the water around them into a current, following it down to surface level.

                If anyone was shocked by their entrance, the bubbles took care of them in short order. It was amazingly convenient, having a way to clear their path to the aquarium just from the usual desire-feeding that a normal Yummy did. Of course, nothing about this was normal, and that was all the more reason to be impressed.

                "I think I'm growing attached to you," she teased, stroking Hina's face as they made their way past the empty lobby. "Keep finding new ways to entertain me, and I may just keep you to myself."

                They stepped around the bubble nests that now lined the floors of the entrance, Hina still sleepwalking in Mezool's grasp. Every once in a while, she would stop to stare at a fish tank, but it wasn't enough to inspire her dreams, and she was easily led away.

                At the end of the entrance, however, was a gorgeous carousel, with seahorses, dolphins, sharks, seals, and otters bobbing up and down, while fixed seashell seats carried two passengers under the sparkling blue and white lights. The canopy was adorned with golden carvings of mermaids and winged sirens staring on them.

                Hina stopped as she watched the ride circle around and around; then she slipped from Mezool's hands and began to walk up to it. Someone tried to stop her, telling her that she needed to buy a separate ticket, but bubbles swirled around her the moment she was held back. As that someone—someone she couldn't even perceive, so lost she was in her dreams—placed a hand on her shoulder to try to ease her toward the ticket machines, she turned and stared at them, her eyes flashing like the carousel's lights. Sea foam surged around her, swallowing up the interloper and washing over the carousel.

                For a few, brief seconds, people screamed in terror as they watched what happened, but Mezool decided to assist her creation, directing the bubbles across the entire floor. Quickly, the screams died out as mesmerizing serenity filled the humans' minds and they began to sink into sleep, wrapped in the bubble nests.

                Hina dropped to her knees, exhausted from the use of her own power. But it was done. The entire first floor of the aquarium was cleared.

                Mezool knelt beside her and kissed her cheek before resuming her Greeed form and scooping her off the floor. In a single, graceful leap, she boarded the spinning carousel and placed Hina side-saddle on one of the seahorses and positioned her hands around the pole. A faint smile began to spread across the girl's face as the seahorse rose and fell, and she settled in against it.

                "Very good," Mezool said. "I'll take care of the rest."

                She left for the escalator while Hina closed her eyes, relaxing in the motion of the carousel. Slowly, Cell Medals began to form within her body, pushing their way out until her legs had once again been replaced by tail.

 

~~~

 

                The nature preserve was deep in the ocean, filled with all sorts of beautiful coral and fish. But Hina quickly decided her favorite part was indeed the carousel, which she'd managed to ride at least three times.

                "You are such a kid," Shingo said as she came off the ride. "Let me guess—you want to go again?"

                "I am _not_ a kid," she argued, but there was no real heat to her words. Deep down, she really did like arguing with her brother. It made her feel like they were normal. Maybe that was why she liked...

                _Liked who?_

                A shock of pain overcame her, like stinging venom in her brain. Whatever thought she'd started was completely forgotten as she froze and clutched her head.

                "Are you okay?" Shingo asked, reaching out to steady her.

                "Highness!" Goto cried. "Another headache?"

                Slowly, she nodded. The pain was taking longer to fade this time, and her heart was pounding from the scare.

                "Come, sit," Chiyoko urged, leading her and Shingo to a cafe table covered with luminescent coral. As Hina settled into a chair, Chiyoko swam over to the counter to get her a drink.

                "How are you feeling?" Shingo asked.

                She grimaced slightly, shaking her head. "I don't know. One minute, I was fine, but the next..."

                "Maybe we should take you back to the palace," Goto said. "At least then, you can rest."

                All of a sudden, a flash of disappointment hit her like anger. For a moment, she couldn't process that his suggestion was out of concern for her—she could only see it as keeping her from what she wanted. Around her, the currents began to speed up, and a woman with the lower body of a blue-ringed octopus looked up from the shard of bleached coral she was filing her nails with. Their eyes met, and Hina had the bewildering sense that she recognized the stranger, before Chiyoko placed a warm cup in her hands.

                "There you go," she said. "That should help."

                Hina felt like she was snapping out of a daze. She took a sip, trying to piece together what was happening, but she was coming up blank, not to mention pained. She finished the entire drink before realizing she hadn't tasted any of it.

                "I think Goto's right," Shingo insisted. "We should head back—even the weather's getting bad."

                "We can always come back," Chiyoko promised.

                "What about the surface?" she asked.

                "Your Highness, I don't think it's a good idea to..." Goto started, but Hina shook her head.

                "We're deeper in the ocean than the palace is," she said. "The pressure is probably getting to me. Some time above water might help."

                Shingo and Goto looked at each other for a moment, and finally, Goto nodded.

                "All right," Shingo agreed. "We'll get something to eat, then head straight home. Chiyoko's right—we can always come back." Hina nodded back, relieved. "We'll get the dolphins. Chiyoko, can you stay with her?"

                "Of course, Your Majesty," she replied.

                "We'll be right back," Goto promised.

                As they left, Hina looked over for the young woman she'd seen—dressed in a yellow halter top that matched her lower half perfectly. She had long since lost interest in the princess and was using one tentacle to apply electric blue nail polish to one hand while another tentacle used the coral to file the nails of the other hand. A waiter came up and asked for her order, and other than a lilt of curiosity as she asked how spicy the shrimp was, she showed no emotion whatsoever.

                Chiyoko followed Hina's line of sight and smiled mischievously, nudging her as she said, "So that's how it is."

                Hina looked at her in surprise, but Chiyoko raised an eyebrow and inclined her head toward the other mermaid. Realizing what she meant, Hina insisted, "No, it's not..."

                "You never told me you were interested in finding your own princess," she said. "Never when we talked about romance novels, or when Goto needed help chasing away his lady admirers..."

                "I'm not..." Hina started, blushing hotly. "I mean, I'm _pretty_ sure I'm not interested in women—not that it's ever come up..."

                Chiyoko waggled an eyebrow as Hina proceeded to dig her grave even deeper. Finally, she raised a menu to block her koi-red face and gestured toward the stranger, asking, "Does she look familiar to you?"

                Chiyoko took a second look, admitting, "Maybe. I may have seen her around somewhere, but definitely not at the palace. I don't know where you might have met her, though."

                Hina didn't want to try thinking of it on her own after this headache, not to mention the torment Chiyoko had just put her through, so she only sighed, "It must be my imagination, then."

                Chiyoko looked at her sympathetically before springing up again. "They're back. This way, Princess."

                Hina rose and started to back away from the table...

                ...Only to fall out of her seat on the carousel.

                A few Cell Medals broke off of her as she hit the floor, too dazed to react—Mezool felt that more so than heard and raced to her side, cupping her face with a hand.

                Hina wasn't exactly dreaming anymore, but she certainly wasn't awake or alert, staring back at Mezool vacantly as the Greeed combed through her desires, trying to figure out what was wrong.

                "What is it?" she asked gently. "What do you want?"

                And there it was, a desire so basic that she was almost ashamed she hadn't thought of it earlier.

                "Of course," she murmured. "You're still human enough that you need to eat."

                Eating was a bizarre, but fascinating thing to Greeed. The experience of taste was complex—less of a single sense than a combination of several. They lacked the ability to distinguish between the most basic of flavors, be they sweet or sour, salty or bitter; and their sense of smell wasn't refined enough to appreciate the top notes that were unique to every food. About the only thing they could appreciate was texture, so long as it was a blatant difference, such as soft or hard. It was how Gamel could munch on barrels of candy, so long as he could feel and hear himself crunch.

                Mezool had always been curious, but as she'd told Hina before, she had no frame of reference for how something _should_ taste. Still, if Ankh could manage to keep his human pet fed and hydrated without killing him, then she should have even less problem with hers.

                She carried Hina over to the bar and sat her down on the counter. What food there was were mostly snacks that she didn't particularly know how to prepare. She picked up a hot dog, registering heat against her fingers—it was cooked, right?—and held it up to Hina. The girl stared blankly and tried to take it, but drew her fingers away sharply.

                ("Ow!" she dreamed, pulling away from a snack as she burned her fingers, and when she saw her brother start to laugh, she insisted, "I didn't think it would be that hot!")

                "Too hot?" Mezool guessed, setting it to the side to cool. "Then how about this?"

                She held up some cool sweets, and Hina had no problem picking these up and eating them. While she didn't make the loud noises of delight that Gamel did, her satisfaction rang through the Medals crystal clear, and Mezool had to appreciate it more.

                "Now, for something to drink," she decided.

                There was a wide selection, similar to the abandoned bar they'd once used as a home base. But as with then, Mezool hardly recognized most of the liquors—beer and wine were the options she'd known of eight-hundred years ago. But if she was attending a princess, she could at least give her the best, and she knew that champagne had a high reputation in this era.

                She poured sparkling wine into a glass and set it before Hina. As with the food, she hesitantly picked it up, then brought it to her lips. Her first sip was surprised, as if she hadn't expected real alcohol, but she smiled and finally took another.

                Mezool watched with interest as she ate. Humans took it for granted, but she would give a thousand Cell Medals just to experience it for herself. But then, a thought occurred to her—Ankh could eat. Without a full body, he'd been forced to take on a human host. And she'd seen him in pain enough during their battles to know that he must experience the full range of human senses.

                Could she do the same with Hina? Take her over if they shared Medals? It was worth considering if Kazari tried to betray her again. But for now, maybe she could at least satisfy her curiosity.

                She reached for the Medals within Hina—not deeply enough to call them back, but enough to make them resonate with the ones inside her own body. Hina froze in place and stared at her, a faint blue aura glowing around her, like sunlight passing through clear water. The boundaries between them began to blur and vanish—Mezool could feel the long tail at the end of her body, the dolphin-like skin that had grown over her stomach, and the seashells against her breasts. She tried to coax Hina—herself—to lift the glass again and felt the fizz tickle her nose as the scent of grapes hit her. And then...

                ...Hina had started to take another sip of the wine when she had the sudden feeling that someone was watching her. She turned, and there, standing not far behind her, was a human girl.

                She dropped the glass in shock.

                The glass shattered on the floor, and Mezool took a step back in surprise. Hina had seen her. Not a vague vision of what was happening to her, all while her memories were suppressed, but actually _seeing_ her, taking a physical form within the dream. It meant that it was possible to ender her dream without being completely swallowed up by the fantasy—but was that because of their connection or just because Mezool was a Greeed?

                "Hmm, looks like I missed something interesting."

                Mezool was grateful she had remained in her Greeed form for this. It made it much easier to cover her disgust as she turned to Kazari and lightly said, "I could say the same. You've been gone a long time."

                Kazari shrugged, making his way past the bubbles. "I see you figured out what these things can do. Convenient, aren't they?"

                "They are," she answered, trying to keep the impatience from dripping into her voice. Kazari never just came out and said anything—he liked to tiptoe his way through until he'd upset someone. It gave him the advantage—something she couldn't afford.

                He stopped in front of Hina, waving a paw in front of her face. When she failed to react, he said, "She's under pretty deep."

                "She'll be able to defend herself if OOO or Ankh interferes," Mezool insisted. "I've seen it."

                Kazari backed away, tucking his paws behind his head like he was relaxing. "I don't think we'll have to worry about that."

                Now, they were getting down to it, and Mezool didn't like what she was hearing.

                "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously. "Where have you been?"

                "Oh, nowhere special," he answered, shifting back to his human disguise. She swore it was only so he could flash that toothy, predator's grin at her again. "Just a restaurant. I think she's spent some time there."

                Mezool had seen a restaurant in her initial search through Hina's mind. She knew exactly what he was talking about, and she let slip a tone of alarm in her voice as she said, "You can't mean..."

                And that was it—the reaction he'd wanted. Kazari's lip curled up again for a moment before he walked off, practically daring her to attack his exposed back as he said, "I think OOO and Ankh are going to be a little preoccupied for a while."

                Mezool let him go. She had to; as much as she wanted to rip his Cores from him and scatter them in the seas, he had too many for her to even risk trying.

                As soon as he was gone, she turned her attention back to Hina and grasped at their connection—less forcefully this time, but just enough so that she could see what was happening in her mind.

                Hina stared after the girl, shocked as she vanished. On instinct, she called out, "Wait!" only for Goto to turn to her.

                "Your Highness, we're not leaving yet," he promised. "You'll have time to finish."

                She nodded, and he turned, re-focusing his attention to Shingo. It gave her the perfect opportunity to slide off the rock she'd been sitting on and swim to the other side of the cove in search of the girl.

                They'd chosen to have lunch at an island cove that had several caverns and arches from long-extinct volcanic caves. There was a waterfall within one of the caverns, and Hina wondered if the girl had swum—or run—behind it.

                She made her way through the curtain of cold water to another cave—darker, but with a bright light at the end. She swam toward it and emerged through another waterfall in a lagoon farther inland on the island. She looked around in wonder, amazed that they hadn't found this before, but she saw no sign of the girl.

                "I can't be imagining things, can I?" she asked, letting the falls rain down on her as she flushed from embarrassment.

                The sound of something pushing its way through the leaves echoed across the lagoon, and Hina quickly dove into the cave behind the waterfall to hide. There, safely concealed behind water and shadows, she caught a glimpse of bright red through the green.

                He wore a tightly fitted red frock coat with gold embroidery at the hems of the sleeves and collar, but it was his legs— _legs,_ real legs—that caught her attention more, his pants the same color and tucked into black boots with pointed toes. His hair reached past his shoulders, but it curled to one side, revealing kohl-lined eyes that belonged to a face that looked exactly like her brother's, and she felt her heart flip-flop for a moment before he stopped, narrowing his eyes as he looked toward the waterfall.

                "Who's there?" he demanded.

                She shrank back, her head and heart hammering. There was something about him she remembered—something she didn't _want_ to remember, and everything in her was fighting it.

                Meanwhile, her breath caught and emotions too complex to name roiled within her.

                He made his way closer, edging along the shore of the lagoon. Hina had the sudden, wild thought to throw something at him, and she grabbed a smooth stone and hurled it toward his head.

                He caught it expertly, smirking as he said, "Now I know you're there. Come out!"

                She had no choice, did she? Slowly, she made her way out from behind the veil of water. His eyes went wide as he saw her—whomever it was he'd been expecting, clearly she was the last on that list.

                "You," he said just as her memory of him fell into place.

                "Ankh."


	3. What's A Fire? Why Does It Burn?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The discovery that Ankh is also part of Hina's dream throws both her and Mezool into crisis, while Eiji slowly learns what happened and Kazari puts another scheme into action.

                Hina and Ankh stared at one another, each having a hard time processing what they saw—a human, a mermaid. When the moment of shock passed, Ankh huffed and said, "So, it looks like Kazari's set another trap."

                The new name didn't ( _wouldn't_ , if she could help it) ring a bell. Hina shook her head, insisting, "No. This is...it's impossible. You can't be..."

                He raised an eyebrow. "Be what?"

                "You!" she cried, gesturing at him, particularly at his legs. "You're not _real._ You can't be."

                He glared, the comment cutting through to his core.

                "Look who's talking," he said. "So, what did Kazari promise you? To fulfill your lifelong dream of being a goldfish?"

                Something about the word "dream" struck a chord, and she drew back again, her head aching. No. Her dream. It was...

                Ankh narrowed his eyes suspiciously again, but she shook off the pain and insisted, "I don't believe in you."

                "Who said anything about believing?" he retorted, but she had no desire to argue with him anymore. She turned and swam through the cavern back to the campsite.

                Goto was adjusting the reins on their dolphins when she arrived. He turned with a bow and said, "You got back just in time, Your Highness. We're about to leave."

                She nodded and mounted her dolphin, rubbing its side gently. Chiyoko asked, "Princess, is anything wrong?"

                "Nothing," she murmured, leaning in close to her dolphin and trying her hardest not to cry, all the while her heart rose and sank like the carousel ride.

 

~~~

 

                With the girl recovering her strength, Mezool placed her in the dolphin tank to swim. But Kazari's little scheme had taken its toll on her; all she did was cling to one of the dolphins as it swam in circles around the pool.

                She was miserable. Mezool tried activating the laser lights and music to try to coax some sense of wonder from her, but Hina hardly responded. Through the Medals, Mezool could feel her anguish and confusion. She was just as lost as she'd been before.

                Mezool sat on the edge of the pool in human form, her legs submerged in the water. When they'd first questioned her, she'd felt a surge of conflicted, potentially romantic feelings toward Ankh. But now, with false dreams overwriting her memories, Hina could make even less sense of her thoughts about him. All she knew was that they hurt, and if there was one thing going right about this experiment, it was that she at least avoided what hurt her.

                Still, the possibility of exploring Hina's love had its appeal. Mezool was just as fascinated by the emotion as she was by the sense of taste. The word "love" encompassed a whole range of emotions, each discrete from one another depending on who loved whom. She had felt plenty of familial love in this dream, as well as the love called "friendship" between her and the others. But thanks to Kazari, this strange, quasi-romantic love was gone.

                Unless...was it possible to transfer it? If Hina's memories had been replaced, her heart was malleable. She had no reason to recognize Mezool, and whatever traces of memories were still there, she could shape into something more suitable for her purposes.

                She pulled at their connection again, integrating herself in the dream.

                Hina had gone to bed as soon as they returned home. She told everyone it was her headache, but the truth was that Ankh had ruined everything.

                Humans weren't supposed to exist. She knew that. So why, when she met someone that disproved it, why did it have to be the last human she'd ever want to meet?

                Her eyes were beginning to drift closed when a sparkle of light appeared near the grotto ceiling. She got up and swam up to see a glowing blue betta fish caught in an air bubble underneath the chandelier.

                "Hold on," she insisted, catching the bubble and popping it. The fish flopped into her hand for a moment before realizing it was in free water again, swimming in circles around her, like it was grateful.

                She giggled. It was a welcome sensation. "You're welcome. Just be careful where you swim next time."

                The fish stopped in front of her face, fixing its soft light into her eyes. Something about it made her wonder if she'd seen something like it before. A green one, maybe, that matched the color of her tail. But when she tried to reach for it...

                She reached up to the fish, and it swam off, out of her room. She watched after it, feeling an odd sense of abandonment, but the fish stopped at the end of the hall, as if waiting for her.

                Without really knowing why, Hina found herself swimming after it, past the white limestone and colorful coral that made up the palace, through bright blue water that threatened to camouflage her guide. But it kept her in sight at all times as it rose toward an island surrounded by sea caves.

                Hina stopped when she saw the caves ahead, momentarily worried it might lead her back to Ankh. When the fish saw her hesitate, it circled back around, urging her to continue.

                "Can you just tell me where we're going?" she asked, but it either didn't know how to or couldn't.

                Sighing, she continued, through water that gradually lost its salinity. All around the cavern's mouth were tangles of mangrove tree roots, creating a thick, almost impenetrable barrier that helped elevate a pool of fresh water above the high tide. Hina saw the fish jump over the roots into the pool, then carefully pulled herself over, landing amidst a garden of white and blue water lilies.

                There was a large hole in the cave's roof, allowing sunlight to stream through and sparkle on the water. Hina lost sight of the betta among the lotuses, but she couldn't seem to mind. The flowers were lovely, and she reached out to pick one.

                "Do you like it?" asked a feminine voice.

                Hina jumped and turned around. Standing on a large, flat stepping stone nearby was the human girl she'd seen, dressed in a wide-sleeved, lace-edged, sky blue kimono with an extremely short, asymmetrical hem that ran from the upper thigh of her right leg to her left knee, exposing legs that were wrapped in dark blue ribbons. Silver ripple patterns appeared on her shoulders and at the edges of her skirt, creating a simple but appealing pattern. A set of silver, interlocking tentacles were clasped tight at the front of her pale, blue-grey obi, apparently held in place by the knot, which had a traditional Japanese wave pattern in various shades of blue. The ends of the knot, however, had not been tucked in, trailing behind her like blue-grey flukes. She held a white lace parasol to protect herself from the sun, and from what Hina could see, the lace's pattern seemed to form the underside of an octopus, surrounded by bubbles.

                The girl smiled serenely at Hina, who swam closer asking, "Were you there before—at the cove?" When she nodded, Hina smiled and said, "I knew I couldn't have imagined you."

                "Of course not," she answered, kneeling so she could cup Hina's face. "I've been waiting for you."

                "I looked for you," Hina insisted. "But all I found was..."

                "Your prince," the girl said with a note of disgust. Hesitantly, Hina nodded, even though something in her heart wanted to disagree.

                "Don't worry about him now," the girl said. "He'll only keep you from being happy."

                Hina nodded again, despite a sense of déjà vu. It felt like she'd heard this before, from a voice just like this, insisting she should just do what made herself happy. She felt like she hadn't listened before.

                She pulled herself onto the rock and sat beside the girl. As she looked more closely at her, she could see that she wore dangling glass-bead earrings that resembled a string of bubbles.

                Why did she have a feeling that bubbles were following her, especially when it came to this girl? They'd only just met, right?

                "Do we..." she asked, as the girl ran a finger across the wrap around her midriff, as if wondering why she was wearing it. Something about the touch also felt familiar, and she had to stop, unsure what might happen next.

                "Do we know each other?" the girl guessed, and Hina nodded. "We can."

                To Hina's surprise, she leaned in. A flash of heat overtook Hina, and soon, she too leaned in close and met her lips.

                She wasn't really sure why she did it. After all, up until that point, she hadn't thought she was attracted to other girls. But _this_ girl wanted her—Hina could feel it, deep within herself. And something about being wanted resonated with her so completely until the desire became hers as well.

                The kiss was electrifying, and Hina's body felt sensitive in ways it never had before. The girl still had a hand on her waist, traveling slowly across and bringing shivers of tension wherever she touched. Hina felt like she almost might die when she realized the knot of her wrap had come undone and now the girl was touching her bare skin with cold hands.

                A cold hand against her back. _She_ had liked this, dressing and undressing her, hadn't she?

                Hina pulled herself away, unsure where the thought had come from. When she looked back over to the girl, she could see disappointment on her face, though carefully managed through a veneer of elegance.

                "I suppose that was going a little far, a little fast," she admitted.

                "Maybe," Hina agreed, blushing.

                "Still," she continued, "did you enjoy it?"

                Hina had to nod. The thrill that had gone through her was amazing. She should have given in entirely. She didn't know why her thoughts had been so intrusive and uncomfortable.

                "Are you always going to be here?" she asked, willing her mind to stop for a moment and just go along with her heart. "If I come looking for you again, will I find you here?"

                The girl brought her finger to Hina's lips, as if both trying to shush her and promise more there to come.

                "I'll find you, no matter where you are," she promised. "So don't you worry about a thing."

                Hina nodded, smiling before she admitted, "I'd better head back. I worried everyone earlier. I don't want to do that again."

                The girl rose to her feet as Hina swam over to the edge of the pool, dove over the roots, and headed off. She wouldn't notice until much later that the girl had kept her wrap, bringing on another vague sense of forbidden memory.

                Unlike the real clothing she'd claimed, Mezool discarded the wrap, allowing it to break down into sea foam like a forgotten dream. Hina was still thinking so much about clothes, even if they weren't the focus of her desire.

                "No matter," she murmured, twirling her parasol. "As long as it doesn't interfere with the illusion, let her have an old dream."

                In the meantime, she would have to confront Kazari and ensure he didn't destroy everything she'd built.

 

~~~

 

                Ankh really hadn't expected Hina to come back for him. It was why he'd let her storm off, then followed her path after a few minutes' head start.

                He said "head start," of course, but it was more of a wait after realizing he would indeed have to swim underneath a waterfall, through a dark cave, and under yet _another_ waterfall only to find that no, there was no way off this stupid island.

                Worse still, now he had company.

                As Ankh sat on the beach, throwing shells into the water while dark clouds rolled in, Date had come to join him and wait out the stormy winds. Contributing to the overwhelming unfairness of the world around him, Date had the wings and lower body of a blue-footed booby, while Ankh was as human as he'd ever been, with no Greeed powers or senses to get by.

                "So how did _you_ get to be the bird?" he muttered.

                "Eh, I've always been this way," Date answered casually. He was shirtless—for whose benefit, Ankh wasn't sure, but it served to show off the white wings in place of his arms and the matching boa he wore around his neck. "Better question is, how'd _you_ get to be human? Didn't think they were real."

                Ankh snorted. "You're better off asking the first person who said that to me. It's her fault I'm stuck here."

                He didn't need his Greeed senses to know that Hina was the parent of this Yummy, whatever it was. The way she'd responded to him pointing out the ridiculous nature of this world gave it away. Not to mention, Kazari had a history of targeting her to get to Eiji. If that idiot hadn't gone and gotten himself trapped too, he was almost certainly doing something reckless that would get himself killed.

                Sunlight finally shone through the clouds, and the winds died down. Date spread out his wings and said, "Hey, will you check that out? Sun's finally come back out. We can take off."

                He flapped his wings, hovering just above Ankh's head, then gestured with one foot. "Come on, grab hold."

                Ankh stared at him incredulously. "Are you insane?"

                "You need a way off the island, right?" he asked. "Come on. I'm a big, strong bird."

                That was entirely beside the point. Ankh was trapped in a nightmare of a wonderland, maintained by a girl with no reason to want him around while his only hope for rescue was a moron with no survival instincts, and he had no way of communicating with either of them. The issue whether Date was a strong enough fake bird to support Ankh's weight was so far off the point that it might as well be on another planet.

                Still, Ankh had nearly drowned twice on his swim out of there, and he glared as he grabbed Date's legs, threatening, "If you drop me..."

                "Not a problem, Princey. Just make sure you hold on tight. I won't drop you, but still..." he said, which did nothing to reassure Ankh, who tightened his grip on Date's ankles. "All right, let's fly!"

                Takeoff was bumpy and nauseating, enough to fill any real bird with shame. But it meant getting off that miserable rock and maybe figuring out a plan to escape, before Eiji did the inevitable and got caught too.

                Of course, that might mean having to work out a plan with Hina, but he would cross that bridge if he came to it. For now, he had to take one thing at a time and hope he could outwit Kazari before it was too late.

 

~~~

 

                There were terrestrial habitats at the aquarium too, with sturdy tree limbs for Kazari to stretch himself in. He lay on his stomach, looking at some noisy rockhopper penguins with disdain as they squawked at the bubbles around them. For a moment, he considered killing them, thinking it might be funny to taunt Ankh with later, but the sea birds were Mezool's creatures too, and he was already testing her goodwill.

                Besides, it wasn't like Ankh was going to be a problem for much longer anyway.

                He settled for blowing some of the bubbles their way, startling them, when he sensed Mezool coming up to him. As he'd expected, she was glowering at him, but he leapt out of the tree and insisted, "Relax, I'm not hurting them. The bubbles don't affect animals."

                "They affect Greeed, though," she pointed out, leaning over to comfort them.

                He knew she would want to talk about that, and he admitted, "Ankh is a special case. He probably would have been fine, if it hadn't been for that human body of his."

                Mezool pursed her lips. "That means OOO too."

                He shrugged. "True, but you're forgetting that his Medals are the void of desire. He might not be able to be trapped. Or worse, he might just destroy your little playroom."

                "Kazari, you offend me," she replied lightly, picking up an otter from its habitat. "I remember why we're doing this. It's not for my own pleasure."

                He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And I don't?"

                "That's what I want to find out," she said, cuddling the otter. "You hate Ankh more than the rest of us. You've been rivals for eight-hundred years." Kazari shrugged noncommittally. "How do I know you're not going to jeopardize our plan so you can get revenge?"

                She was clever. Not clever enough that he couldn't see right through her little charade, but just enough that he knew he wouldn't be able to deceive her as easily as he had before.

                "OOO and Ankh are dangerous together," he said. "You and I both know that." He reached out and took the otter from her. "Better to separate them, so we have less of a threat to worry about."

                "So you've separated them," she pointed out, watching as he put the otter on the floor to scurry past the bubble nests. "What now?"

                "Well," he said, "I have one running around and one trapped. I'd say, take care of the easiest one first."

                He pointed a thumb in the direction of the penguins in their enclosure. Mezool nodded slowly.

                "Get rid of Ankh while he's helpless," she agreed. "But how do we keep OOO from interfering?"

                "I'll worry about that," he promised. "In fact, if I'm right, he should be discovering what happened right now."

 

~~~

 

                Eiji had had to recruit Hina's friend, Shoko, for fashion advice. When she learned that he planned to check a thrift store for something nice he could wear to the party, she took complete control over the operation, grabbing pieces from some of her past assignments and a few well-made purchases to clean him up.

                She'd managed to put together a suit from a fitted black blazer; a woman's long-sleeved T-shirt with a grey chest and sleeves and dark, heather purple body; and dark-washed skinny jeans. It was all, she insisted, very chic and much dressier than he thought. Despite his misgivings, he went along with it, walking with her to Hina's apartment.

                "Thanks again for all the help," he said, trying not to fidget or adjust the tighter clothes.

                "It's no problem," she insisted. "But are you sure Hina's going to come?"

                "That's why I asked you to come," he admitted sheepishly. "You're friends, so I figured..."

                "I might be able to get through to her better?" she guessed, and he nodded. "I don't know about that."

                "I hope so," he said. "She was really depressed. I don't know what else to do."

                She nodded sympathetically before knocking on the door and calling out, "Hina? Hino and I are here. Open up."

                After a moment passed with no answer, Eiji tried. "Hina? It's time for the party. Can you please come to the door?"

                Again, there was no response. Shoko gave Eiji a concerned look as he fumbled through his things for his key to the apartment.

                "You don't think she's having another...episode, do you?" she asked, remembering the dreadful sight the last time they'd come.

                Hina hardly had anything left to destroy, but it was a worry at the back of Eiji's mind as he finally retrieved his key and said, "That's what I'm going to find out."

                He opened the door, and inside, it was worse than they could have imagined. Shoko's hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, staring at the mess of broken furniture thrown around the living area. The coffee table had been smashed, and the couch looked like it had been thrown against a wall and broken in half. Several chairs were also in pieces all over the floor, and the balcony door was wide open, letting in the rain.

                All at once, Eiji felt his heart sink, then stop, and finally start beating as hard and as fast as it could. He raced inside, checking Hina's room only to find it empty, then racing over toward the open door.

                "We need to call the police," Shoko said, shaking.

                Eiji felt cold and numb. His brain didn't seem to want to work. As he looked around, he saw an abandoned coffee cup on the floor, its contents spilled. Hina's shoes were still by the door, and her phone was left on the kitchen counter. None of it seemed to add up to anything meaningful.

                He walked over to the phone and started to pick it up, but Shoko stopped his hand, warning, "You can't touch anything. The police need to gather evidence—you're just going to contaminate everything."

                She, at least, made sense, and he dropped his hand. He couldn't do anything. If he did, he would only make things worse. Then they'd never find Hina.

                A terrible sense of helplessness was settling in, something he hadn't felt this sharply since Africa, and it was feeding the empty Medals in his chest. A surge of power went through them, creating a wave of pain so intense that he crumpled, clutching his chest.

                "Hino?" Shoko asked, turning her concern on him now and grabbing hold of him so he didn't crack his head against the counter. "Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance?"

                An ambulance wouldn't be able to do anything to help him. He knew that from experience. But the pain from the Medals tore through the haze of panic in his mind, heightening his senses. He could feel something, practically hear the sound of clinking Cell Medals, and he realized that he had felt this before, seconds before Ankh had alerted him to a Yummy. But this was stronger. This had to be a Greeed.

                "I'm calling," Shoko insisted, but he shook his head.

                "No, the police can't help here," he said. "They'll only be in danger."

                She helped him stand straight again, asking, "Is it another monster?"

                He nodded. "A stronger one than the last one. I think they went after Hina to get to me and Ankh."

                She stared at him in disbelief, something he couldn't exactly blame her for. Only a week ago, she hadn't had to worry about Yummies and Greeed, and now she had one right after the other.

                Still, she had the wherewithal to ask, "What should I do?"

                "Get to Cous Coussier," he instructed. "Look for Goto and tell him I need him and Date."

                "Okay," she agreed. "But what about Ankh?"

                "He's probably already on his way," he said, trying to ignore the uncomfortable question of why Ankh hadn't called him by now. Eiji didn't know he could sense Greeed until just a few seconds ago; Ankh should have known earlier.

                But right now, Eiji couldn't afford to show any doubt. He took Hina's phone and said, "It should be safe there, but if anything happens, call me. If we're lucky, maybe she got away and is heading there now."

                She nodded. "Okay. I'll wait there. Just find her."

                He gave her a look he hoped was confident before he ran off.

 

~~~

 

                For all of the doubts that pricked at the back of her mind, Hina's little rendezvous with the mysterious girl had done wonders for her mood. As if the girl's insistence that Hina not worry about Ankh were a magic spell, all thoughts of him had been banished from her mind.

                With her feeling better, the royal entourage was able to resume their schedule, touring a jellyfish bloom at the far end of the nature preserve.

                They traveled in an enclosed gondola that gently rowed through the garden, while a transparent membrane allowed them to safely observe the jellies, Portuguese men o' war, and various other venomous creatures.

                Hina looked out in amazement at tiny orange clownfish taking refuge in a large, rosy bubble-tip anemone, without fear of harm while a lion's mane jellyfish swam over toward the gondola, its many tentacles shaking.

                "Everybody, remain calm," the captain warned, his voice matter-of-fact as the jelly's tentacles engulfed part of the gondola. "It can't get through the membrane. We're perfectly safe."

                Taking that as his cue to worry about his little sister, Shingo turned to Hina and asked, "Scared?"

                She shook her head, smiling. "I can't believe we got this close. It's amazing."

                The jellyfish soon realized the ship wasn't edible and let go, allowing them to pass through the remainder of the garden without incident, but with plenty of excited chatter.

                The gondola returned to its hangar—the wreckage of a galleon, guarded by enormous ocean sunfish and leatherback turtles, to keep the jellyfish population in check and prevent them from escaping their garden. All throughout the galleon were mermaids and mermen dressed in pirate garb, either leading tour groups to the gondolas or entertaining schools of children with outlandish tales and equally as incredible marine facts. From time to time, the people paused to show their respects to the King and Princess. It was all routine. But something about their surroundings still felt strange to Hina, and her encounter with the human girl remained heavily on her mind.

                "Your Highness, are you all right?" Goto asked cautiously.

                She nodded, then just as cautiously asked, "Do you know where this ship came from?"

                "Isn't it amazing?" Chiyoko asked excitedly. "It's a replica of one from an old human tale. It looks really realistic, doesn't it?"

                Hina nodded again before adding, "Where do you think they came from? Stories about humans, I mean."

                "Well," Chiyoko explained, "all over the ocean, people wonder about the land and what kind of creatures might live there."

                "And they probably saw wild animals there and thought there might be something like them, but that looked more like us," Goto agreed.

                "Where did all this come from all of a sudden?" Shingo asked.

                "I don't know," Hina replied, only mostly lying. "I just started thinking about it." As she came up to her dolphin, she said, "I'm going to make a quick trip up to the surface. I think I left my wrap at the picnic site."

                "Do you need me to come with you?" Goto asked.

                "It'll be fast," she promised. "I'll see you all at home."

                She mounted her dolphin and started rising toward the surface. She knew she should have had an escort, being Princess and all, but truth be told, she didn't want anyone seeing her with the girl. It was their secret.

                And she couldn't deny that her curiosity was piqued, and she didn't want anyone else's questions getting in the way of hers. Where had she come from? Why did she know so much about mermaids while they knew nothing about humans? Was she the last of her kind? Or magic, somehow? Was that how she seemed to know Hina so well?

                And what was this connection between them that now seemed to be drawing Hina toward her? It felt like their minds and hearts were one. Could she really find Hina anywhere?

                Why did that thought send a cold shiver through her that felt just as much like dread as delight?

                Hina's dolphin breached the surface with a graceful, twirling leap. She laughed, grinning brightly as they landed with a splash, scattering sparkling drops of saltwater across the sky.

                She looked up. The sky was perfectly blue, without a single cloud, though there was a vivid rainbow arching over the horizon. Even if her girl didn't show, nothing could spoil the beauty of this moment.

                Not even the odd, dark shape flying overhead.

 

~~~

 

                Step. Step. Step.

                Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

                Ankh kept walking like he didn't hear the heavy feet behind him. Heavy feet from a heavy Greeed, all slow and stupid.

                Step. Step.

                Not like Ankh, though only Kazari seemed to think so. The other Greeed, when they bothered to pay attention to him, thought he was weird and dumb. The Doctor thought he was special, but only special like a Yummy that broke desires instead of built them.

                Stomp. Stomp.

                Not Kazari, though. He knew Ankh was just growing. That words could be hard sometimes, especially in this little human disguise. That he couldn't always pay attention for long periods of time. But that he was getting stronger. Getting better at using his disguise to make humans underestimate him.

                Maybe make Greeed underestimate him?

                Step.

                Stomp.

                Stop.

                Ankh stood outside a pair of large, wooden doors, staring at the handles and trying to sense. Behind him, Gamel also stopped to stare, but absently at the top and back of Ankh's head.

                Ankh didn't like Gamel. He didn't care about most of the others—except Kazari, he _imprinted_ on Kazari, and Kazari watched him and helped him and _understood_ —but he decided he did not like Gamel. Gamel, who looked at the toys Kazari had helped Ankh steal and thought they were his. Gamel, who didn't understand that Ankh didn't talk and kept asking him questions he wouldn't answer. Gamel, who acted like a small human child and thought Ankh was a small human child just because he _looked_ like a small human child and needed his imprint on Kazari to figure things out.

                Gamel, who didn't let Ankh have quiet and repetitive patterns to think, and always disrupted him with stomps or words.

                "Ankh?" Gamel asked, sounding like he was still not used to using the name for him and not for _him_. "Where are we?"

                Kazari told Ankh to come here. He came back to the house while Ankh bounced his ball, and he was wet. Ankh stopped, looked at him, and listened. Kazari told him to come here for something interesting.

                He also said to take Gamel along to keep him out of their hair. Ankh didn't like Gamel, but he imprinted on Kazari. So he did.

                Ankh opened the door. Inside, there was a human girl talking on the phone. There were also bubbles all over the floor and food left on the table. But those were not interesting.

                Gamel plodded over to the table, ignoring the girl telling them to leave. He said, "I think I know this place!" and chomped down on a cup of sweets.

                Ankh did not want food, even though he tried it sometimes. Sometimes, it helped him think, but it had no taste, so he did not like it. He was not stupid like Gamel.

                The human girl ignored him to argue with stupid Gamel. She underestimated Ankh because he looked like a small human child. She thought he would stay with the adult.

                She was wrong.

                Ankh found the stairs and walked up. He could sense something interesting, but it was small and weak. He followed it to a door and walked inside.

                There were bubbles on this floor too. These were interesting. They had a human inside, asleep and helpless. And something else, small and weak like a human child.

                He felt his disguise face smile. It felt good.

                "It's _me_ ," he said in a small, human child voice.

                He reached out with his empty right arm for the last piece of himself.

                " _I'm_ here, he said, feeling almost satisfied. Almost grown.

                His body glowed. The body in the bubbles glowed. And he felt _him._

 

~~~

 

                Ankh was over the water when he felt it—a dizzying pull on his Medals, the first reminder that he was a Greed that he'd had since waking on that island.

                He lost the strength in his right hand. It slipped and fell limply at his side. Distantly, he could hear Date asking if he was okay, but he was in no condition to answer. It was too late.

                He fell, plunging toward the water.

                Hina had been watching the bird-man fly with his strange cargo for some time now when she saw it slip and fall. Before she even had the chance to register what she saw, she dove underwater and searched for the fallen human.

                She recognized Ankh as soon as she saw him, but his eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around his waist and carried him upwards, kicking her fin as hard as she could.

                They broke through the surface to Date hovering overhead. Hina quickly put her ear against Ankh's chest and listened through the sound of her own heart pounding until she could hear his.

                "He's alive," she said, her voice shaking. "I can hear his heart beating."

                "What about breathing?" Date asked.

                She turned back to Ankh. Water had dribbled out of his nose and mouth, but she could see just enough movement to tell that air was going back into his lungs. She'd made it just in time.

                "For now," she answered.

                She looked around and saw her dolphin waiting where she'd left it. She let out a sharp whistle, and it began to swim her way.

                "We need to get him to land," she said, carefully placing Ankh on the dolphin's back. "Can you fly ahead and see if there's anything?"

                "You can count on me," Date answered, taking off.

                Hina glanced at Ankh, making sure he wasn't sliding off. Gently, she put an arm around him to help hold him in place, even though the slight touch made her heart drum in her ears, as loudly and as furiously as the waves.

                "What happened to you?" she whispered, but he showed no signs of waking.

                With no other options available, she led her dolphin after Date, following slowly so Ankh wouldn't fall. At least her hand against him let her feel for his steady heartbeat, letting her feel like maybe she was actually making a difference.


	4. Go Ahead And Sign The Scroll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ankh royally screws everything up, while Eiji must battle a fully revived Kazari.

                A drenched Eiji took refuge from the rain under an awning, shivering just as much from hopelessness as from the wet. He'd lost Kazari's trail—his Greeed senses weren't developed enough to pick up his presence for very long, or to figure out where else he'd been. To make matters worse, relying on that power meant dwelling on the dark places in himself that he preferred to ignore. The growing despair was making them grow darker, and he wasn't sure how long he could safely stand at the edge of that abyss without falling in, or seeing what kind of monster he might find wearing his face.

                A surge of hope came over him when he heard Hina's phone ring and saw Shoko's number appear. Breathlessly, he asked, "Did you find them?"

                "No," she answered, and there was fear in her voice. "I can't find _anyone._ "

                A bubble of confusion shielded him from the blow as he asked, "What do you mean? Goto's not there?"

                " _Nobody's_ here," she said, and the fear was becoming panic. "I don't know where they are."

                No. It couldn't have happened again. Desperately, he asked, "Does it look like there was a fight?"

                "I don't know," she replied. "There's this...foam all over the floor. I'm trying to stay away from it."

                "Foam?" he repeated. That didn't make sense. There hadn't been foam at Hina's apartment—just the obvious signs of a fight.

                Unless—and his brain began to work again with terrible clarity—unless Hina had been the first, and whatever came after had gained a new power to use at Cous Coussier.

                "A Yummy?' he asked, more to himself than to Shoko. It added up—Kazari specialized in parasites, and he had Medals from Mezool and Gamel that could alter their powers. He would have tried something like this, then taken Hina with him.

                "I'll be there soon," he promised. "Wait for me."

                But Shoko was no longer listening. Instead, her voice was slightly muffled as she told someone—customers, probably, "I'm sorry, I have to ask you to leave." But the next thing Eiji heard sent a chill through him: "What are you doing? Stop!"

                He heard a series of crashes next, followed by a thud and the line going dead. Something was wrong, and there was no time to lose. After making sure there was nobody around to see, he called on his Medals and transformed to PuToTyra, using its flight and speed to race to Cous Coussier.

                He didn't bother to change back before barging through the open door, where he saw Shoko pushed into the display table while a human-form Gamel devoured three cups of chocolate mousse and the various hors d'oeuvres Chiyoko had set out for the party. On the floor were three large clusters of bubbles.

                "Mmm, tasty," Gamel said, stuffing an entire tray of baklava into his mouth. He stopped when he realized he had more company. "Oh. OOO."

                Eiji took a step, readying himself for a fight, when he suddenly felt a strong presence upstairs, as intense as wildfire.

                Shoko was getting to her feet, just as Gamel said, "OOO! You can't stop me!"

                He couldn't afford to waste time on this fight. Instead, he said, "Forget it. Go ahead and eat."

                "Really?" Gamel asked as Eiji flew past him for the stairs. "Okay!"

                Eiji knew Shoko was following after him, but he didn't let anything distract him as he burst through the open door of the attic and found a familiar young boy kneeling over another clump of foam, both of them glowing with rainbow-colored fire.

                The boy stood and turned as soon as he sensed Eiji and his Medals—just barely enough time to transform before Eiji speared him with the spikes on his shoulders. An icy fury that he wasn't ready for ripped through him, and he pulled the other Ankh closer to him, punching him as hard as he could, frost spreading from his fists. But his anger only left him open—he'd let his opponent get too close. The lost Ankh reached out, grabbed hold of Eiji's belt, and ripped it off of him.

                The transformation canceled in a terrible, dizzying haze of purple and darkness, leaving Eiji completely defenseless and half-paralyzed with pain as Lost Ankh hit him in the stomach. He doubled over, his eyes flashing violet, but unable to transform or otherwise protect himself; Lost Ankh took advantage of the situation by striking his back and shoulder, forcing him to the floor. Weakly, Eiji grabbed him by the ankle, trying to do anything to keep him from returning to the bubble nest, but the bird Greeed only summoned heat into his legs, making himself too hot for Eiji to hold onto. Eiji had no choice but to let go, shouting in pain.

                "Hino!" Shoko cried from the doorway, and Lost Ankh turned toward her. Eiji's blood ran cold as he watched her back away in terror while Lost Ankh held up his left hand, burning with fire.

                To make matters worse, they soon heard Gamel call out, "All done!" as he made his way toward them, now transformed. Shoko's face went completely white as she realized she was trapped between two extremely dangerous creatures, and Eiji knew he only had seconds to act.

                "Duck!" he screamed.

                She dropped flat against the floor as Eiji summoned as much power as he could from his five purple Medals and again grabbed Lost Ankh's legs, this time ignoring the heat. Lost Ankh fell, losing control of his fireball, throwing it at Gamel instead. Caught completely off-guard, Gamel fell backwards, landing on his bottom. He wailed, more from immaturity than pain, crying out, "Mezool! Mezool, Ankh hurt me!" before running off.

                Eiji used that distraction to pull himself forward, wrestling with Lost Ankh for the belt. Lost Ankh tried to summon fire around his body to protect himself, but Eiji was surrounded by dark wisps of nothingness, and the fire could not hurt him. He seized the belt and jumped to his feet in a low, animalistic stance, his eyes glowing.

                Without his backup, and with a barely controlled human-Greeed hybrid berserker between him and his other half, Lost Ankh reconsidered his odds and dashed past a still terrified Shoko, eager to make a hasty exit. She didn't dare look after to see if they really had left, but Eiji could sense their Medals' presence diminishing until they were too far for him to pick up. The darkness and purple faded from him, and he swayed, lightheaded. His foot brushed against the bubbles behind him, and...

                ...And he was on a ship out at sea on a perfect summer's day. All around him, sailors were bustling to and fro, checking the sails and other equipment.

                A rough hand clapped against his shoulder, and someone called out, "Don't just stand there, lad! Get to work!"

                Eiji stumbled in shock, and the vision was gone—or was it a vision? He'd smelled saltwater and felt a hand against him—that couldn't just be his injuries.

                "Hino?" Shoko asked cautiously, slowly approaching him now that his berserker state had passed. "Are you..."

                He turned, looking at the bubble nest as the realization he'd been fighting all this time sank in. Something dropped—his stomach, his heart, or himself into the abyss—and he fell to his knees. This time, Shoko did come over to him, just in time to hear him whisper, "It's Ankh."

                "You're sure?" she asked. "How can you..."

                "That Greeed—it's another part of him. He was trying to take him back." She stared at him in confusion, but he no longer cared if anything he said made sense. Nothing did anymore, not in the ways that mattered. "The others must be in the bubbles downstairs—Goto, Chiyoko, and Date."

                "What about Hina?"

                He shook his head. "I don't know. But I know this has to be a trap. The Greeed are all working together now. They have Hina, they trapped Ankh, and now..."

                "They'll be after you?" she guessed, but he shrugged. "What do you think they want?"

                "I don't know," he said. "Usually, it's Medals, but..."

                He saw the Medal case tossed to the side and reached for it, letting himself get his hopes up. But they were soon dashed when he opened it to find it empty. That was everything—only the purple Medals and Ankh's personal three remained. There was nothing he could fight with, and nothing he could trade in exchange for his friends' safety.  And assuming that Mezool and Uva were also cooperating with Kazari, that made four fully revived Greeed he would have to contend with.

                He needed help, much more than Shoko could provide. He needed a safe place to keep Ankh, better resources to find the Greeed—anything that might give him a fighting chance.

                He stood up and went to their stash of candroids. He wouldn't be able to move Ankh himself, but he had a feeling that Kougami could.

 

~~~

 

                Date managed to lead Hina to a sheltered bay, covered in coconut palms and hibiscus, where it was easier to care for Ankh. Hina brought him onto the beach herself, searching through her purse for something that might help, but coming up empty.

                "I wish I still had my wrap," she sighed. "At least then, I could cool him down."

                She gently placed a hand against Ankh's face. He was burning in the sun. The waves softly lapping against his lower body helped some, just as it kept her tail from drying out, but it didn't solve the problem.

                Date held a large palm frond in his teeth, then let it fall to the sand before he landed.

                "Here, Princess," he said. "Try this."

                "Thanks," she answered, propping it up like an umbrella to shield Ankh's face.

                Date watched her quietly for a moment, then cleared his throat and asked, "So, what's the story between you two? A little interspecies romance?"

                "What? No!" Hina cried, a hot blush rising to her cheeks as her heart raced again.

                Date didn't let her reaction deter him. Grinning, he said, "You can't fool me. I see how you look for him. Can't blame you, really—pretty good-looking for a human."

                Hina shook her head, her face red as the hibiscus she'd placed in her hair. Fighting to breathe, she said, "I'm not hearing this..."

                "Why not?" he asked. "You look awfully cute together."

                It was bad enough that Chiyoko had teased her before, but this seemed like an even bigger joke. Hina _couldn't_ like Ankh—he was awful, he never had anything nice to say, he picked on her all the time...it was impossible.

                And yet, that sensation in her heart persisted, like it was leaping from the water, flipping in the air, and diving back in again. She didn't want this, didn't she?

                Behind her, the waves began to work themselves into a froth, splashing onto the shore with greater force and leaving foam all over the sand. Date had to jump back into the air to avoid being swept out to sea. Hina barely noticed, too intent on trying to cope with the storm of emotions within her.

                "If you're done arguing, some of us would like to relax."

                This voice was new, but it still sounded somewhat familiar to Hina. She turned to see the octopus mermaid from the cafe, sunning herself a little ways away. She'd managed to procure sunglasses from somewhere and reclined on the sand, her tentacles spread out around her.

                Another odd vision overtook Hina, and for a moment, she saw a young woman in a yellow, halter-top sundress decorated with small blue rings. The skirt was made up of eight overlapping triangles of fabric, covering her but able to dramatically spread out when twirled.

                Hina blinked the vision away. The woman gave her another suspicious look, but before anyone could speak, Ankh groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He pointedly ignored Hina as she turned toward him, instead letting out his breath in a heave as he saw the other mermaid.

                "So, even Kougami's errand girl is here," he said.

                "Satonaka," she corrected, her tone cool but professional. "And I'm just as trapped as you. I had an appointment for a mani-pedi in an hour, but there's no chance of that happening now."

                "What are you talking about?" Hina asked in confusion.

                "Forget that," Ankh said. "How do _you_ remember everything when these idiots don't?"

                "What?" Hina cried.

                "Hey, Princey, that's not nice," Date warned. "You should apologize to the Princess..."

                "She's not a princess!" Ankh argued, forcing himself to sit up. "She's not a mermaid either! She's just some stupidly strong monster of a human who lost all her desires because a Yummy ripped her coat. Now she thinks she belongs in a fishbowl? How retarded can you get?"

                Suddenly, the water retreated from the shore. With an uncharacteristic look of alarm in her eyes, Satonaka yelled, "Ankh, stop _now_!"

                "Why should I?" he demanded. He glanced over his shoulder to see Hina biting her lip and fighting off tears. He didn't care. "The sooner she hears this, the better. I'm not losing my Medals and disappearing because she wants to live in a fairytale instead of dealing with reality."

                "Do you _want_ a tsunami?" Satonaka screamed.

                But it was too late. The water came back like a moving, liquid wall, and Ankh couldn't do anything to protect himself from being shoved under. In the chaos, he could see Satonaka trying to swim over to him while Hina sat motionless on the submerged coast.

                Her eyes were flashing sapphire blue, and he realized then that he was the idiot.

                "I hate you," she confessed before swimming off.

                Satonaka reached Ankh and pulled him above the water line, where he was able to grab Date's legs again and escape. From his vantage point in the air, he could see the entire island sink beneath the wave. He didn't need either of them to explain that Hina was in control of this dream world, and that if things didn't go her way, the waters became violent.

                After all, that was how Mezool operated.

                His situation had just become a lot more precarious, and all by his own actions. There was nothing he could do. He would just have to trust that Eiji was still out there and fighting, and that had to be enough.

                The fact remained, though, that he was a Greeed and not a human. This could _never_ be enough.

 

~~~

 

                It had been decided that, in the best interests of keeping OOO from finding them too easily, that Kazari would meet up with the others at Maki's. Ideally, he preferred to keep the Doctor out of it, but so far, he hadn't shown any inclination to interfere, as long as they were merely building up their strength. As long as they kept things quiet, they could continue, unimpeded.

                Of course, "quiet" was not Gamel's specialty, and as soon as he was inside, he was crying and searching for Mezool. Ankh, meanwhile, wore a sour expression on his human face that looked so much like the original that for a moment, Kazari wondered if he'd succeeded in absorbing him.

                The moment passed when he went to his ball and began throwing it at the wall with more force than usual.

                "No luck, I take it?" Kazari asked.

                As always, the boy didn't answer. Kazari couldn't help but wonder what might happen when he did. There was no questioning that he was loyal, thanks to his imprinting instinct. Kazari had been the first person he'd really interacted with and had taken him under his wing, so to speak. He suspected the same was true of the original and OOO. But he'd seen how easily they could break up—it was no surprise, really, considering that Ankh's first imprint was on the King, the first OOO, who ended up very literally stabbing him in the back. There was a chance that this Ankh might regain that memory, especially if he took back the original. If that happened, Kazari wasn't really sure what he would do. Ankh was Ankh, after all. He would just have to step back and see what he did, if his instincts were stronger than his nature. Otherwise, Kazari would just have to destroy him and take his Medals, just like he'd originally thought he would one day.

                Gamel returned from checking every room in the mansion, whining, "Kazari, where's Mezool?"

                "She's fine," he answered, keeping his back turned so that Gamel wouldn't see him roll his eyes. "She's just working on something and asked us not to disturb her."

                "Really?" Gamel asked.

                From anyone else, Kazari would have thought he sounded skeptical, but Gamel wasn't smart enough to think that way. Instead, he was just clingy and disappointed.

                "Really," he said. "She'll probably need our help later, though. Why don't you go play until she's ready?"

                "Okay," he replied, brightening up as he climbed the stairs.

                As if Gamel's departure had solved everything, Ankh calmed down, bouncing his ball Kazari's way. He caught it, then bounced it back to pass, admitting, "Yeah, I know he's annoying. But he's just useful enough to help."

                The boy's face had gone expressionless again, but Kazari got the feeling he would have given him a look of disbelief. Deciding not to try to overstate Gamel's virtues anymore, he said, "Wish I didn't have to dump him on you, but you know he would have messed everything up."

                There was a blink, which Kazari took to mean that Ankh agreed. Satisfied, he said, "I would have been surprised if you managed to get Ankh right away, anyway. OOO was bound to show up. But I needed you to buy us a little time while we got the rest of the plan underway. You'll have another chance at him soon."

                Ankh stopped bouncing for a minute. Kazari caught the ball and watched as the boy intensely concentrated on speaking the only three words he really seemed to know:

                "Where am _I_?"

                Slow progress, but still, Kazari smiled, even despite all of the concerns he kept hidden under the surface. Mezool could have her silent little doll. His toy was much more interesting,

                "Give it a little time," he said. "There's only one place they can go, but you need OOO to be far away for that."

                The boy didn't look at him, keeping his eyes fixed on the wall. But Kazari knew the wheels in his head were turning. He would have a thorough plan of attack soon enough. He might have been mostly nonverbal and dependent on Kazari, but he was sharp enough with his tactics. Kazari expected nothing less from an Ankh.

                He placed the ball in the boy's hands, and he began throwing it against the wall again in the rhythmic, repetitive pattern that meant he was thinking. Kazari left him to it. It was time for his own confrontation with OOO, to help further the plan.

                And he couldn't wait to finally put all nine of his Cores to good use.

 

~~~

 

                Kougami had managed to use a squadron of candroids to transport Ankh to a gurney, then a van. The same followed for Date, Goto, and Chiyoko as soon as more vans were available. In the meantime, Eiji and Shoko were brought to the Foundation.

                Members of the Ride Vendor platoon escorted them to Kougami's office. When an already overwhelmed Shoko excused herself to wait in the lobby, another patroller took her down and waited with her. The unfamiliar faces unsettled Eiji, and as soon as he and Kougami were alone, he asked, "Where's Satonaka?"

                "Unfortunately, she became a victim of this new Yummy, while on her way home from work," Kougami explained.

                Eiji stared at him in shock. "You mean Kazari and Mezool targeted her too?"

                "No," he replied. "More likely, she was caught up by coincidence. She lives in an apartment complex not far from Ms. Izumi's, as I understand."

                It wasn't a relief, not really, but all the same, Eiji sank into a chair with a heavy sigh and felt every ache in his body. He'd been running on adrenaline for the past hour or so, and with nothing else to distract him, the strength was draining from his body. He was, for all intents and purposes, alone. Alone against Greeed who had all nine of their Medals. Greeed who had Hina and who were after Ankh.

                There was what looked like sympathy on Kougami's face. He offered a slice of cake, but Eiji shook his head. He didn't want food; he just wanted his friends back and safe.

                "I understand that the Greeed took all of the Medals in your possession," Kougami said.

                Eiji lowered his head. "All we've got left are what's in me and Ankh. But that means the Greeed can all fully revive."

                "Assuming, you mean, that Kazari shares his prize," Kougami pointed out.

                Hesitantly, Eiji nodded. "But even then, that's one fully revived Greeed who might use the rest of the Medals he took. I don't know how I'm supposed to fight against that."

                "You may not be able to," Kougami admitted. "What concerns me more, though, is the disappearance of Ms. Izumi. It appears to be the start of everything."

                Eiji closed his eyes for a moment, fighting a swell of despair. "When we got to her apartment, everything was destroyed. There must have been a fight."

                "And yet there were none of these bubbles that Ankh and the others were trapped in?" Kougami pressed.

                Eiji shook his head again. "No. We didn't find them until we went to Cous Coussier, and then..."

                Kougami watched him curiously, expectantly. Sighing, Eiji admitted, "I don't really know how to explain it. When I touched the bubbles, I saw...something. I was on a ship, in the middle of the ocean. People were running around—one of them even touched me, and I could feel it. It seemed so real. But as soon as I moved away, it was gone."

                "Hmm," Kougami said, his expression serious.

                "Do you think that's what happened to Ankh and the others?" Eiji asked. "That they're trapped in some kind of mirage?"

                "It sounds like that may be the case," he agreed. "But then the question remains—what happened to Ms. Izumi?"

                It sounded less like a question and more like confirmation of Eiji's worst fears. Hina was the source of this new Yummy, and the Greeed were holding her as insurance, knowing he was afraid to hurt her.

                He balled up his hands into fists out of frustration and helplessness. But oddly enough, for the first time since he had discovered Hina missing, the aching presence of the purple Medals couldn't seem to bother him.

                An alarm began beeping on Kougami's computer. He signaled Eiji to come over and see before bringing up security footage, showing Kazari attacking a few people in a park.

                "Where is that?" Eiji asked.

                "Yoyogi Park," Kougami answered, and as Eiji immediately headed to the door, he asked, "What will you do? You just admitted that you don't know how to fight him at full power."

                Eiji stopped in his tracks, but it killed him to wait even a second longer while people were in danger. Frantic, he asked, "What should I do?"

                "I'm authorizing a CLAWs unit to meet up with you, the scorpion," Kougami explained. "It may not have sufficient power to take down a fully revived Greeed..."

                "But it's better than nothing," Eiji realized, and then he bowed. "Thank you."

                "One last thing," Kougami warned. "Those Medals inside you..."

                Eiji cautiously brought his hand to his chest. "I've got better control over them now."

                "That's what worries me," Kougami admitted. "Because you have been able to use the purple combo without losing control, I worry that you may become careless and reach too deep within them for power. If that is the case..."

                He trailed off, and Eiji waited anxiously for him to finish his warning. But instead, he cheerfully shouted, "Well, you'll see if it happens. Good luck!"

                Uneasily, Eiji bowed again and left the office, making his way out. As he passed through the lobby, Shoko saw him and sprang to her feet.

                "Hino, where are you going?" she asked. "I'll go with you."

                "No," he answered, his voice harder than he'd intended it to be. She stepped back, and realizing he was still scaring her, he said, "Sorry. But right now, it's too dangerous. One of the Greeed is attacking, and I have to go after him. You'll be safe if you stay here."

                "What about you?" she asked.

                He forced a smile. "I'll be fine. Mr. Kougami is lending me something that'll help. Don't worry—I'll find out where they took Hina and save her and everyone else."

                "All right," she answered hesitantly.

                "Just wait here, and let me know if anything changes with Ankh," he said. Finally, she nodded. "I'll be right back."

                "Be careful," she warned, but he was already out the door and transforming.

                Only the most dedicated rockabilly dancers and their fans had braved the weather at Yoyogi Park in Shibuya, and the violent winds and hot, flashing lights that Kazari unleashed were making them regret that decision.

                For his part, Kazari thought he was doing a good job of restraining himself. It would have been simple to engulf the humans and suck them dry of their desires, but he was really only there to draw out OOO.

                And finally, he arrived with a spray of ice and the flapping of purple wings. Nonchalant, Kazari glanced over as Eiji landed between him and the civilians, warning them to get to safety.

                "It's about time you showed up," Kazari taunted.

                Eiji stiffened. He knew Kazari was just trying to get under his skin, but he was very good at it. Eiji had to try to keep a cool head, no matter how tempting it was to go into a blind rage like he did when he lost control. He _needed_ control—Ankh and Hina needed it.

                "So, you've got all your Medals?" he asked, if only to give himself time to calm down.

                "You can thank Ankh for that," Kazari replied smugly.

                Another attempt to bait him; Eiji let it pass, instead asking, "What about the other Medals? I kinda find it hard to believe you'd just give them back to the others."

                "I haven't decided yet," he said. "Uva's I'll probably use, since it's not like he's got much use for it anymore. But the others?" He shrugged.

                Did that casual dismissal of Uva mean that he was dead? Or just that he wasn't working with them? Eiji filed the information away for later, instead taking hope in the second implication—Kazari still wasn't fully cooperating with Gamel and Mezool. They'd only joined forces because of a common enemy—him. He wasn't sure if that would make it easier or harder to break their alliance, but either way, it was something he could use.

                "In any case," Kazari continued, "it's not like you'll be around long enough to find out."

                Blades that resembled claws extended from his back as his mane grew into long, dangerous tendrils that whipped around him. Eiji had seen this before, when Kazari had only eight Medals, but he suspected they weren't just for show. He reached deep into the earth, calling on the purple Medals, and pulled his axe from the memories of the fossils below. He raised it just in time to block several tendrils coming his way, but the tendrils began firing sharp spikes, like bullets, in rapid succession at him, preventing him from mounting a full defense.

                With Eiji distracted by the volley of shots, Kazari extended the claws on his hands and moved in close, relentlessly punching him with bladed jabs. Eiji could feel the sting of the claws as they tore through his suit, OOO offering next to no resistance at all against the attack. It didn't matter that this was his most powerful combo—against a fully revived Greeed, he might as well have remained human.

                How had the original OOO ever managed to defeat them?

                Kazari kicked him into a fountain, then leapt on him with a body slam that plunged the blades from his back into Eiji's body. Blinding pain overtook Eiji, and he could feel his control over the Medals slipping away as the power of the long extinct vied desperately to live once more. In the cloud of pain and rage, Eiji found himself suddenly aware of his own blood leaching into the water around him and ice forming over his body.

                "That's enough for now, I think," Kazari said, pulling away and stepping back. "After all, I don't want you losing control again."

                Eiji tried to turn his head toward Kazari, to  keep him in sight at all times. But he still managed to miss seeing the bubble that came for him until it was too late, and the sea called for him again.

 

~~~

 

                Hina could barely remember what happened after she'd left Ankh. Somehow or another, she'd made it home, then locked herself in her room before anyone could ask why she was crying.

                She hid in bed, burying her face in a large, round pillow that muffled her sobs. She couldn't confide in anyone else about this, not with the unbelievable, and not with the doubts.

                She didn't want to believe that she'd been wrong in saving Ankh. He'd given her every reason to regret it, but she had to believe that she'd made the right choice, even if she couldn't explain to herself why.

                Like before.

                She clutched her head as the memories threatened to tear through her mind, past whatever defenses that were trying to keep them safely out—another choice, another person asking, should he stay or should he go?

                "Stop it," she pleaded. "Leave me alone. I don't want to remember."

                Because remembering would mean admitting that this world was a lie, and she couldn't do that. It was her dream, all she had left.

                "I told you not to worry about him, didn't I?"

                It was the girl's voice, coming from the direction of Hina's mirror. She looked up in surprise, only to see her mysterious maiden sitting on the vanity in the reflection of the black shell, her back turned, exposing the wave pattern on the knot of her obi.

                "You tried to warn me," Hina realized, wiping her tears and swimming over. "You said he'd stand in the way of my happiness."

                "That's all Ankh does," the girl replied, looking at Hina over her shoulder. "All he's ever done is hurt you."

                Part of Hina suddenly wanted to speak up in Ankh's defense, but the urge dissipated as the girl slid off the lip of the conch shell and walked toward Hina's reflection, easing it into the chair. Hina could feel the same gentle force pushing her into her own seat as she watched the girl stand behind her reflection, running her fingers through Hina's hair. She found the red hibiscus tucked behind Hina's left ear and plucked it out, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she crumpled it and tossed it aside. Hina felt something do the same to her in reality as the girl remarked, "I never want to see you in his colors again."

                Hina felt herself nod, the vague whisper of the girl's reflected touch creating goose bumps along her body.

                "How are you doing this?" she asked.

                There was a look of amusement on the girl's face as she asked, "What? Do you think I'm some sort of sea witch?"

                Images of the creature she'd seen in the mirror earlier came to mind again, and Hina quickly insisted, "No!" There was no way this lovely human could be anything like the terrifying thing she'd thought she'd completely forgotten about.

                But there was the tiara in the girl's hands, its central crystal drop now aquamarine instead of clear glass. Hina felt it settle on her head, entwining itself in her hair like it was part of her, and the girl wrapped her arms around Hina's neck from behind as she leaned close, her face pressed up against Hina's, and one leg raised to rest against her tail.

                Hina felt warm, and in the mirror, she could see that her eyes had turned blue. Something about that observation failed to surprise her—rather, she felt like this was the way it should be.

                "Do you want this world to be real?" the girl whispered.

                The desire surged in her heart like the coming tide.

                "More than anything," she whispered back.

                For a moment, she thought she could see eels wrapped around her and a tentacle against her tail. But these paranoid delusions vanished as she felt the blue wave of desire rise up within her, offering everything she was to the girl.

                Hina had the strange sense that she'd signed a contract as the eel-arms tightened, and then, she knew no more.

                In the waking world, Mezool draped herself around Hina underwater, calling to the Medals within her and synchronizing them with her own. She knew Kazari had obtained her last Medals, but she wouldn't let him get Hina too, not after all the work she'd put into her.

                "You belong to _me_ now," she said, pouring more of herself into the dreaming mermaid.

                Without knowing why, Hina nodded, giving herself up to the Greeed's embrace.


	5. If You Want To Cross A Bridge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Hina remains in Mezool's clutches, Eiji is badly wounded, and Ankh must find a way to save himself. Meanwhile, Mezool and Kazari plot to rid themselves of both of their enemies while they're still vulnerable.

                The seas had changed. Before, when Eiji first touched on the dream, the skies were clear and the surf calm. Now, a storm threatened and rogue waves tossed the ship back and forth.

                Again, people were running across the deck, but this time, there was urgency to their movements. Sailors hurried to lower the sails before the winds could tear them to shreds, and the helmsman desperately tried to steer the ship into calmer waters.

                Then, a sudden jolt, and Eiji heard, "We've hit a reef!"

                "We're taking on water!" someone else yelled.

                "To the longboats!" the captain ordered.

                "There's no time!" another shouted. "We're..."

                The ship violently lurched, and Eiji felt himself falling backwards over the side—overboard. He plunged into the water head-first, watching as the ship, stuck on the coral, began to capsize and sink.

                And then, he saw her—Hina. It was difficult to recognize her, with the effects of the dream trying to distort his true memories, but she was sitting at a vanity, looking at her reflection.

                She turned, and he reached out toward her. For a moment, she didn't seem to recognize him, but then he heard her say, "Eiji?"

                Just as she started to reach for him too, movement came from her side—Mezool, her body a meld between her Greeed form and ShaUTa in full attack mode.

                Before Eiji could reach Hina, Mezool swung an eel whip from her arm toward him, unleashing electricity toward him. It was coming closer, and there was nothing he could do to keep it from hitting him...

                The imagined danger was real enough to make the Medals within him react, and he snapped awake, finding himself still transformed and surrounded by frozen bubbles, a slush of ice and blood all over his stomach.

                "Hmm," Kazari noticed, standing over him. "I guess those Medals really do cancel out desires. Oh well. Guess it'll have to be the hard way after all."

                He whipped his mane toward Eiji again, but this time, there was nothing Eiji could do to defend himself. He closed his eyes tightly, unwilling to watch his end come for him.

                He missed the multicolored ray of light that hit Kazari from behind, but he heard the resulting cry of surprise and pain. Opening his eyes, he saw the CLAWs unit finally on the scene, blasting another Cell Burst at Kazari to force him away from Eiji.

                As soon as the way was clear, a team of several Ride Vendor troopers ran in, providing cover fire with heavy ammunition while the team medic ran to Eiji's side. Eiji didn't know how to tell him what was wrong, but he figured it out quickly enough and hurriedly pressed a wad of gauze against Eiji's stomach. He tensed up in pain, feeling the two Medals still inside his body react, and he tried to will them to calm down—the medic was there to help; he couldn't risk losing control and attacking him.

                The CLAWs unit was charging Kazari now, meeting his tendrils with its whip-like tail, attracting the Cell Medals like a magnet. The troopers weren't about to let their guard down, signaling to one another for a retreat. Half of them continued firing slugs while the others loaded smoke grenades into their guns.

                The medic reached for Eiji's belt, but he weakly reached out and grabbed his hand. The sensation in the Medals hadn't stopped—he had no idea what would happen when the other three re-entered his body, much less if he would wake up again after the exhaustion took him.

                But there was no time, and they couldn't safely evacuate him otherwise. The medic pulled his hand free and deactivated the driver. The pain hit Eiji worse than before, fresher without power to dull it. He was unconscious before the Medals ever returned to him.

                The first grenades fired, only for Kazari to easily blow through the smokescreen. The CLAWs unit attacked him again, nearly knocking a Core Medal out of place before Kazari ripped its tail off. While the scorpion battled, the second half of the troop loaded smoke grenades and fired, buying time for the first team to reload. Kazari cleared this smoke as easily as he had the first one, but the third volley masked them just long enough for the captain to launch an explosive at the CLAWs unit. The blast ruptured the Cell Medal energy converter of the unit, creating a more powerful second explosion that forced Kazari back, allowing them to complete their evacuation. When he finally emerged from the smoke and flames, they were gone.

                "Well, Ankh's not going to like this," he muttered, dusting himself off as he retrieved his shorn-off Cell Medals. "Looks like OOO isn't the only one we'll have to worry about."

                It put another obstacle in the way of his goal to eliminate the original Ankh. Still, with OOO undeniably out of action, maybe Mezool would have an idea that would keep him there.

                He changed back to human form, removing the Medals he'd stolen back. Mezool would know he had them, of course, but he saw no sense in playing that hand too early. It wasn't like she would be dumb enough to confront him on that.

                Mezool and her little pet were on the stationary carousel when Kazari returned, Mezool sitting in one of the seashell chairs with the girl's head laid in her lap. She had progressed much further than when he'd last checked in—scales and shells now covered her sides and breasts, with smoother skin covering much of the rest of her torso. In all honesty, Kazari guessed that what still looked human on her was there for Mezool's own enjoyment—she certainly seemed to like caressing her face and neck.

                "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

                Mezool didn't even bother to look up as she asked, "Did you take care of Ankh and OOO?"

                "Partially," he admitted. "Ran into a couple of problems with Ankh, but OOO is mostly out of commission."

                "Mostly?" she repeated, now turning his way. "And what kind of problems?"

                "Well, OOO was able to prevent us from absorbing Ankh, which I knew would happen anyway," he explained. "I managed to injure him pretty bad, though, without him losing control too."

                "But?" she pressured.

                "But those humans were more clever than I expected," he sighed. "They can get pretty creative with their weapons. Ankh and Gamel will have a hard time taking on their headquarters, even with OOO laid up."

                "I thought you said you would worry about it," she warned, standing up and walking off the ride to confront him. "Considering you have all of your Medals, you shouldn't have a problem."

                Well, she'd confronted him—that he hadn't completely expected. But still, he could try for plausible deniability, and he placed a hand against his chest as if in shock. "Mezool, I'm hurt! You really think I would take back our Medals and not share?"

                But no, she was holding out her hand expectantly. He definitely didn't expect her to be this bold. Glowering, he asked, "Has this little mermaid of yours made you forget that I'm still stronger than you, even without all nine Medals?"

                "No," she replied, but without a trace of fear in her voice. "But I think you forget that even injured, OOO is still a significant threat."

                He stared her down for a second before answering, "So I guess it comes down to what I came here to ask you in the first place. Which one is more dangerous—OOO or Ankh?"

                Neither needed to respond; they knew the answer was Ankh. OOO was powerful, but as Kazari had so expertly demonstrated, he was still human. Ankh was one of them—hard to kill and ruthlessly clever. At his weakest, he was at his most dangerous.

                Kazari gave over the two Medals, and Mezool immediately re-integrated them into her body. "So, are you going to finish OOO off in the hospital or what?"

                "I have different plans," she admitted.

                He shrugged. "Well, if you're still eager to try trapping him in that dream, you should know I tried that already. His Medals booted him out."

                "There's more than one way to get rid of him," she replied, teasingly stroking his mane. "You just have to know how to get to him."

                "Oh?" he asked. "And you know something I don't?"

                "Maybe," she teased. "I'll work on the OOO boy. Don't attack until I give the signal."

                "What signal?" he asked.

                A stream of water shot past him. He prepared to defend himself until he realized it had snared a small, mechanical hawk that was hiding behind him.

                "You were followed," she pointed out.

                "I see that," he growled, baring his claws at the candroid.

                She drew it in, encasing it in a sphere of water before explaining, "We'll use their little toy against them."

                "I like it," he agreed. "I think I misjudged you. Here, I thought you were just feeding the girl's desire for your own amusement, but it turns out, you've got a clear plan after all."

                "Hmph," she scoffed, turning back to her doll-girl. "Just make sure you actually destroy Ankh this time."

                "With pleasure," he answered, taking off.

                With him finally gone, Mezool let herself relax. It had been a risk to challenge him like that, but she'd needed her Cores—now all nine were available. It was so tempting to simply remove the last three from Hina, but Mezool still had a use for her, one that had given her the courage to stand up to Kazari in the first place.

                She wasn't sure how sensitive OOO's purple Medals would be, but surely the six inside her would mask the three inside Hina. She just needed to be completely sure they all were ready.

 

~~~

 

                Ankh wasn't sure how long it was before they found land again, but it was long enough that he'd had time to truly appreciate how bad his situation was.

                One, he was trapped in a dream world of Hina's, set up by Kazari and Mezool, who'd joined forces against him.

                Two, Hina wasn't just possessed by a Yummy, she—like Eiji—had Medals inside her that she could not control, allowing Mezool to control her instead.

                And three, Ankh's doppelganger was on the outside, trying to reabsorb him while he was still helplessly asleep in the real world, and nearly succeeding. Eiji had likely fought him off, but there was no telling how long he would be able to do so, especially if there was the chance that the other Greeed had stolen their Core Medals.

                All in all, it seemed like there were no answers. Ankh could no more think of a strategy to get out of this mess than he could access his Greeed powers—the loss of which was making him feel far more vulnerable than he cared to let on. Mezool had completely slipped under his radar. If he'd known she was in Hina from the start, he could have...

                ...What? What could he do as a mere human? Simply telling Hina things she didn't want to hear made her call the ocean on him. How could he possibly expect to fight off the Greeed giving her that power if he had no powers of his own to defend himself?

                The worst part, perhaps, were those what-ifs. He was beginning to wonder if they were inherent to humans, and his temporary change of species had inflicted them on him, or if he'd just picked them up from Eiji. He wasn't sure which possibility disgusted him more.

                They finally came to a coastland that was part of a larger landmass than either of the islands they'd been to before. It was protected by an extensive barrier reef farther out to sea, which kept the coastal waters calm and shallow—hopefully protection if Hina came after him again.

                Date dropped Ankh onto the beach before landing himself, while Satonaka crawled her way up onto the wet sand. Date stretched his cramped legs while Satonaka examined her nails, both in relative silence.

                Ankh hated it. At least Eiji, damnably optimistic as he was, would have come up with half a dozen strategies by now. Most of them would be unusable, but even then, it would be because he was too willing to take on life-threatening risks for himself.

                No, instead, Ankh was stuck with the idiot mercenary and the unmotivated secretary. He was completely and thoroughly screwed.

                "How can you just sit there?" he demanded. "You should be working on a way to get out of here!"

                "What's the hurry?" Date asked. "The Princess isn't here, and everything's calmed down. We're fine."

                "What's the hurry?" Ankh repeated, livid. "Kazari's still out there! With that...imposter of mine! He already tried to absorb me once!"

                "And he failed, since you're still here," Satonaka pointed out. "That means Hino's still fighting on the outside."

                Ankh snorted. "For how long? That idiot is hopeless on his own. If Kazari managed to get the other Cores..."

                "Then President Kougami is probably already helping him," she said, deciding to buff her nails with that bit of coral she still had.

                Ankh scowled at the suggestion. He already suspected he owed her something for helping him escape the tsunami; he did not want to also be indebted to her boss.

                Still, he had nothing better to offer, and recognizing that, she said, "Face it, there's not much else we _can_ do here. We're better off waiting for Hino to rescue us."

                "Easy for you to say," he grumbled, wringing the water out of his overly long hair. "You're not the one who'll disappear."

                He expected her to ignore the comment, or to casually brush it off. However, instead, she lowered her nail buffer and stared at him with what for her was pity.

                "Listen," she said. "Before anything else happens, you should know something." He said nothing, watching her guardedly as she revealed, "Detective Izumi is separated from you in this dream. He's...I don't know how to explain it, but he's acting like he's completely awake—or asleep—on his own, without you in control. He's the king in this world."

                It was not entirely surprising; he knew that the detective had been regaining consciousness and control, even overcoming him and waking briefly before slipping back into his coma. But Hina had gone against her heart and chosen to let Ankh stay, for whatever reason he still couldn't figure out. It didn't surprise him that she had regrets. Her true desire was bound to betray her.

                He let out a high-pitched, mirthless laugh, and Date gave him a cautious glance, asking, "What's so funny?"

                "Humans," he answered. "You're so predictable. You want without limit, and when something stands in your way, you stop at nothing to tear it down. You're no better than Greeed. Even she's not above it!"

                "Hey," Date warned, his voice hard, "I may not know what's going on, but I do know the Princess went out of her way to save your life. She stayed by your side until you woke up and made sure you were okay. And all you've done since then is talk down to her."

                "Date's right," Satonaka agreed. "All of this is _your_ fault. You could have warned her about the Greeed without insulting her. Instead, you provoked her into sinking the whole island."

                "Don't you think I know what?" he shouted. "I already know she has every reason to want me gone! She just doesn't have any need to hide it anymore, so why should I?"

                He stalked off, just as Date called out, "Hey, we should stick together!"

                "Forget it!" he barked. "I'm better off finding a way out myself."

                As he began hiking, once again needing to explore a strange, new land, he thought he caught a glimpse of light blue fabric swishing ahead of him, seeming to disappear past the plumeria trees and oleander bushes. He pushed a small bush aside but found nothing. Still, he kept his guard up as he slowly made his way farther inland.

 

~~~

 

                Eiji was slow to wake, and that came as a surprise. Usually, after using PuToTyra, its stress on his body and his injuries hit him again, and he woke to massive amounts of pain. But now, he felt vaguely numb and detached, his mind and his body out of sync with one another.

                When he tried to move and felt something over and around him, limiting all of his movements, he opened his eyes. It took a moment for his sleep-addled brain to register the sterile environment of a hospital room, or the heavy blanket that had been tucked around him, keeping a pillow in place over his stomach. The only parts of his body that weren't fully covered were his head and his left hand, and he could see a piece of cotton taped there, as if covering where an IV line had been.

                There was also a nurse call button by his hand, and he reached over and pressed it, expecting a nurse to come in and explain.

                Instead, the television across from him immediately switched on, revealing Kougami in his office, baking another cake.

                "You've regained consciousness," he noticed. "Excellent!"

                His voice was still too loud, and Eiji reflexively grimaced. He did this just as Shoko peered over, and she quickly asked, "Hino, are you okay?"

                "Yeah," he insisted, though the words felt like they were being spoken through a mouth filled with cotton. Everything about him felt sluggish and worn down, like a toy with the stuffing beat out of it.

                "What happened?" he asked.

                He didn't like the uncertain glance that Shoko gave Kougami, or the grim expression on the boisterous businessman's face as he explained, "Ride Vendor Platoon 6 reported finding you motionless but conscious in a fountain in Yoyogi Park. You were bleeding out from several stab wounds in your stomach."

                The description jogged Eiji's memory, and now, he could again see Kazari jumping on top of him, again feel the blades sink into his flesh. As if spurred by memory, a jolt of pain shot through his stomach, and he carefully brought his free hand under the blanket to clutch the pillow against his stomach. He now distinctly understood why the hospital staff had made it as difficult as possible for him to move.

                He couldn't seem to focus on the rest of Kougami's explanation, and his gaze strayed from the television to a plastic bag on a chair across from his bed. It took him another minute to realize that it probably contained his blood-soaked clothes.

                "Hino?"  Shoko asked, and his glanced back up at the television to see her worried face.

                "I'm fine," he promised, lying. "But sorry I made you go through all of that to get me new clothes. I think it's safe to say I ruined them."

                Her expression softened, and the hint of a teary smile appeared as she said, "It's okay. Your old clothes are still at Hina's, I think. Do you want me to get them?"

                "Please?" he asked.

                She seemed relieved to have an excuse to leave, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Kougami asked, "How much do you remember of the battle?"

                Eiji wracked his brain, but he couldn't make much progress through the soft mush that filled his thoughts. Moments of extreme pain stood out, like Kazari's attack, but he could feel his focus fading away. He thought he remembered seeing Hina, but that couldn't be true.

                "I'm not sure," he admitted. "Everything feels fuzzy." Kougami nodded, but otherwise, his reaction yielded no clues as to what he was looking for. "Why? Did I lose control?"

                Now, Kougami raised an eyebrow. "Do you feel like you lost control?"

                Eiji hesitated. He could usually recall, vividly, his actions and emotions when he ran berserk; even though in the moment, he acted without any clarity of mind. To be honest, he felt as through this was how he'd been behaving all day, even without transforming. But there was no such sense of that during the fight. Still, if he could keep his attention on it long enough, he had the memory of frozen, bloody slush all over his abdomen.

                "I don't think so," he admitted. "But I think I remember something about ice?"

                "The medic who evacuated you reported that your body began freezing over, likely in an attempt to halt the bleeding," Kougami explained. "Since you barely recall this, I can only assume that this was an involuntary action taken by the purple Medals, in an attempt to save your life."

                "Is that why my head feels so clouded?" Eiji asked.

                "Ah, no," Kougami answered. "That would be because I requested the doctor to sedate you after surgery."

                A glint of shock and anger, like the light reflecting off a knife, cut through the fog in Eiji's brain. "What? Why?" he asked, trying to sit up before the pain in his stomach tore through him again, and he clutched the pillow against himself tightly as he eased himself back again.

                "That reaction is exactly why," Kougami said. "If something were not making you sleep, you would be charging after the Greeed and your friend again."

                "But Hina's still with them!" he protested. "And they'll come after Ankh again..."

                "We will take care of protecting Ankh," Kougami promised. "And as long as she is still useful to them—which may be a while, considering how easily this provokes you—they will not allow Ms. Izumi to come to any harm. You place the both of them in more danger if you try to rush off in your condition."

                "But I..." Eiji insisted.

                "There is no need to hurry as of yet," Kougami insisted, and as if on cue, a nurse entered the room with another dose of the medicine.  She removed the blanket so she could reach Eiji's arm, and he felt a prick as the needle went into his skin.

                "Those Medals saved your life, but they may be changing your body," Kougami continued. "You need to allow yourself to heal as a human would."

                Eiji wanted to believe that the warning made no sense, but even in the haze of medication, something about it felt right. He had felt something from the Medals before he passed out. Almost like how he imagined that Ankh...

                Time was becoming blurry. Eiji couldn't seem to figure out how long it took before his pain started to numb again, but his head felt dull long before that. He thought he remembered something about Kougami talking some more, and he tried to pay attention because he heard Ankh's name, but he was drifting away too quickly.

                "Stop," he mumbled. "I can't. I'm going to..."

                He couldn't seem to get the words to come out, but he had to get Kougami to see how dangerous it was for him to fall asleep again. That he'd almost been trapped inside the dream, and if he could barely feel the Medals inside him, he wasn't sure he'd be able to fight it off and wake up again. And there was so much more that he had to tell him—something about Uva. Something about Hina. He couldn't remember, and he tried to say so, but he couldn't get his tongue, lips, or voice to work together anymore.

                Someone said it was okay, then wrapped the blanket around him again. He barely felt it. He didn't remember falling asleep, but eventually, he did close his eyes and go still. It was a relief for everyone—after all, there would be another confrontation to come, and he needed all the time and rest possible to recover his strength.

                A relief to everyone except him, of course. Even in his own dreams, he couldn't shake the feeling that the ocean was going to try to pull him under again, and he didn't know if he'd be able to come back up to the surface.

 

~~~

 

                When the first signs of civilization appeared, Ankh nearly missed them. The sand had given way to the stone of a long-ago lava flow, making it easier for him to walk. He kept his pace even while trying to head for somewhere more open, all in an attempt to draw out whoever was following him.

                When he felt something crunch underneath his boot, though, he stopped and looked down, only to see a shard of broken terracotta beneath him.

                So. There _were_ other humans here after all. He didn't know how or why that had changed, but right now, he didn't care. He needed to find somebody useful, or barring that, something that could let him get a message out to Eiji.

                The pottery shard gave way to a cobblestone road that led to a small footbridge beside a grotto in a hillside. Water streamed down from a few of the caves, emptying in a small pool below. Ankh scowled at the sight of yet another waterfall, but at least the bridge kept him safely out of the water.

                As he crossed, he began to notice statues within the grotto. He scoffed when he saw the expected mermaids, but he had to pause when he saw a single, winged humanoid poised within one of the upper caverns, the only one that didn't have flowing water.

                He continued walking, listening for the sound of a second pair of feet against the cobbles. He didn't hear them, and it occurred to him that the person following him might well have tried wading through the water to avoid giving off any sound. However, when he peered down, he still saw no one.

                This was getting aggravating. He _knew_ he was being followed—he didn't need his Greeed senses for that. But they were still hiding, and he was getting tired of waiting to find out who it was.

                A stone staircase led up the hillside, past fragrant orange blossoms and jasmines. Better yet, this was the only way up—the hill was too steep and densely wooded with flowering trees and shrubs to make the trek. He climbed up, then perched on a garden wall to watch for movement.

                It came from the slope, through thick oleander bushes and the shrinking leaves of mimosa trees. He clicked his tongue in disbelief, then shouted, "Are you kidding me? You're really that afraid to show yourself?"

                The movement stopped, somewhere behind an orange tree that had nearly been overtaken by jasmine vines.

                "I already know you're there," he said, his voice cool now that he was reasonably sure that this wasn't an enemy. After all, if it was, they would have attacked by now. "You may as well come out."

                But that wasn't going to be the case, and he caught another glimpse of blue cloth through the plant life, trying to make its way back down the slope. He let out his breath in a huff. So, it would be the hard way.

                He leapt down from the wall, keeping his knees bent and arms outstretched so he could catch himself on the sharp decline. He could hear whoever it was ahead, tripping through the thicket, and he hurried down just before they could take a tumble into the water below. He saw the blue fabric and grabbed hold, stopping them.

                They turned around, and he nearly dropped them anyway in surprise. There, dressed in a chiffon gown ending with a flared skirt, the breasts silk scallop shells in pale blue among sparkling transparent sequins on the bodice, both color and decor fading the farther down it went, until it was nearly white at the ruffled hem, the effect resembling crashing waves. There, hair loose and wavy, adorned with a silver and aqua-blue tiara that matched the colors of her glittering heeled sandals.

                There was Hina.

                Neither could speak, only staring at one another in silent shock.

 

~~~

 

                Bright lights illuminated the dark hospital, washing it in a harsh, antiseptic glow. Shadows, however, filled each of the patient rooms, everything calm and still.

                Bubbles filled most of the beds and nurse stations, as well as random stops along the hallways, the victims inside trapped in a fantasy world too perfect to exist, too wonderful to want to wake from.

                It was silent all throughout.

                Mezool strolled down her latest floor, bubbles surrounding her. While it had been larger, the hospital was easier to seize control of than the aquarium, if only because everyone here had become to feel the fatigue quickly and welcomed the hypnotic serenity the dream bubbles brought. Sleeping patients already dreamt of feeling well again, and the dream world was more than happy to grant that wish, even if it meant transporting them to a world with mermaids and other childhood fantasies. Overworked doctors and nurses heeded the siren song of sleep in their bodies and minds, falling under within heartbeats.

                There was no one to stop her.

                She finally found the correct room, sensing the faint, cold light of the purple Core Medals, and she nudged the door open quietly. There was the OOO boy, looking more "boy" than "OOO" as he slept beneath a thick blanket, his breathing slow and even. Even with her standing over him, he didn't sense her.

                Curious, she drew her fingers down his cheek—smoother than that of the first OOO, who'd been a bearded, older man. Despite knowing of the differences, it came as a surprise; she hadn't expected it, somehow. There were differences between him and the girl, of course, but the sensation it gave her was still, somehow, similar. But no matter how he appeared, he was OOO all the same.

                Still, she could see why Ankh was so possessive of him. It was almost a shame that neither of them would be around much longer; she would have liked to see his reaction if she managed to claim the boy too.

                But for now, she still had things to take care of, and it wouldn't do if he woke up too early. She walked out of the room, letting sea foam wash through every hall and room, all while Eiji lay dead asleep and unaware of her plans for him.


	6. Up Where They Walk, Up Where They Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hina and Ankh must cope with a nightmare while Eiji and Shoko each face difficult decisions in the face of Mezool and Kazari's attacks on the real world.

                When the girl had told her, "You belong to me," Hina hadn't seen any reason to question it. She was happy to be with her, couldn't seem to stop thinking about her, it was easy to just surrender all that she was to her.

                Anxieties and fears fizzled out until they were forgotten. The sense she'd had that none of this was real, that she would open her eyes and find herself a miserable little girl without a dream, that was gone. And besides, who needed a dream for the future when the present was just so perfect?

                But then, on the outer fringes of her consciousness, she seemed to sense someone diving into the water. She looked up, and the walls of the undersea cave that made up her room vanished, giving her a clear view of yet another human, another boy, falling head-first through the abyss.

                He saw her, and he reached out a hand toward her.

                She could hear the girl scoff. "Look at how selfish he is, looking to you to save him."

                But no, that couldn't be right. He would never do that, only reach out to save others. She knew that. And yet, she also knew that he did need to be saved—he always did, even if he didn't acknowledge it. She would do it, no matter how many times he didn't ask her to. Because she cared about him. Because he was worth the pain, the tears, the frustration. Because she loved...

                The taboo name rose in her memory, and she reached out a hand toward him.

                "Eiji," she called.

                And that was enough, as far as the girl was concerned. An eel-like whip lashed out from beside her, sending a bolt of electricity through the water toward him. Hina cried out in horror as the energy appeared to connect, and he disappeared in clouds of violet smoke. She leapt up, turning until she could see who had done it, and she realized who the girl really was all along.

                "The sea witch?" she asked in disbelief. But that was wrong; Eiji's presence had triggered more memories, and she knew better now. "Mezool?"

                "Oh, you remember after all?" she replied, reaching for Hina, the eels wrapped around her arms. "Pity, I was hoping this game would never end."

                Hina backed away, right into the vanity, her heart pounding. Mezool cupped her face in her hand again, and she swallowed down the thrill her touch still brought, disgusted with her own reaction. She had no way to get away, so she backed herself onto the vanity, trying to give herself a little room to escape.

                "What did you do to Eiji?" she demanded.

                "Nothing much, unfortunately," Mezool answered. "It seems he doesn't want to stay with you here."

                Hina shook her head. "That's not true. Eiji's...he would never fall into one of your traps!"

                "But you did," Mezool pointed out, leaning in closer until Hina had her back completely pressed against the mirror. "I wonder if he finally got tired of rescuing you."

                A horrible jab of fear went through Hina's stomach—what if this was what his question had really been about? If Eiji only asked what to do about Ankh as a cover to ask permission to leave? He would be too considerate to come right out and say he didn't want to be with her anymore, anyway.

                "But then," Mezool added, using Hina's distraction as a chance to bring herself on top of her, "perhaps, if Ankh is also here, OOO has already made up his mind who to save."

                Hina shook her head desperately, willing herself not to believe it. "No. He wouldn't...he said he'd try to save everyone."

                "It would only make sense," Mezool reasoned. "Ankh is more useful to him, after all."

                The words broke through the veil of doubt, and with unexpected venom, Hina spat out, "Was I 'useful' to you? Is that it?"

                Mezool laughed, and Hina cringed; even in Greeed form, her voice older and better suited to her true appearance, her laugh had an elegant, musical quality to it that Hina couldn't help but want to hear over and over—if she were the mermaid, Mezool had made herself the siren, mesmerizing and irresistible.

                Hina would try to resist now. She started to push Mezool back, with all of her strength, but the Greeed wrapped a tentacle around each of Hina's wrists and pulled them away with ease. Hina might as well not have tried, and she stared back at her with eyes wide open, her mouth agape.

                "Your strength?" Mezool guessed. "A little suggestion from Kazari. Once in a while, he comes up with a good idea."

                It had to be the first thing to go—Hina remembered now. She remembered it just as plainly as she remembered every time she tried to wish it away, because she scared her classmates, or her brother made fun of her, or she managed to hurt Eiji or Ankh.

                "You never did like it, did you?" Mezool asked, twirling a lock of Hina's hair.

                "You're wrong," she lied, even as the shame washed over her.

                "No, and you know it," Mezool pointed out, trailing a finger down Hina's chest until she laid it against her heart. "We're part of one another now. I know every little thought and desire inside you. Your real life is in shambles, and you've never been completely happy with the person you were. Why not regress to childhood? Escape to a comfortable dream, where you're a delicate mermaid princess instead of the freak you think everyone sees you as?"

                Hina shook her head again, tears coming to her eyes. She tried to fight against the tentacles, to pull herself away and escape Mezool ( _the same way you escaped reality_ , some dark part of herself whispered), but hands reached out from the other side of the mirror, embracing her from behind and thoroughly pinning her arms at her sides. She turned her head to see her reflection gone, but Mezool's human disguise holding her through the watery mirror surface.

                Mezool laughed again, turning Hina's face to stare straight at her. "And what's so wrong about being useful? It's one of the highest praises a Greeed can give."

                Hina tried to break free, but without her strength, she didn't stand a chance. Mezool reached her hand to Hina's face, and she closed her eyes tight as goosebumps continued to follow her fingers.

                "If only I had found you before the OOO boy and Ankh," Mezool murmured. "Then it wouldn't have to be this way. You could even love me."

                Hina could feel the images being forced into her mind, as if they were trying to replace her memories: She walked past Eiji at the vending machine, came across Mezool alone on her way to the interview at Cous Coussier. The idea for a human disguise would come to Mezool then, and she would back Hina against the doors just like this, read her thoughts just like this, press her lips against hers just like...

                Hina gasped and opened her eyes in horror as soon as she felt Mezool's gills against her lips. It was a mistake—Mezool now had her mouth firmly pushed into Hina's, and she held Hina's head still to ensure she didn't turn away. Gone were the pleasant feelings of the last kiss—Hina could feel something, but everything about it was wrong.

                It started in her breath, catching and failing, like her gills were closing up, and the only air she could rely on was whatever life Mezool was giving her with the kiss. There was a burning, ripping sensation in her tail and fins, so painful that she thought she might pass out. But Mezool was keeping her conscious through every second of it, sitting on her tail, and for an instant, Hina thought she had a dual sensation of Mezool's lower body against hers, something twinned, like two tails, or...

                _Legs!_ she realized in alarm.

                _Of course,_ Mezool replied, her thoughts as clear as spoken words.

                _What are you doing to me?_ Hina thought.

                _Just keeping you busy for a while,_ she replied. _After all, I can't have you waking and warning OOO. And a nightmare is so much harder to wake from than a daydream._

                Her fingers went to Hina's throat, and she tensed up, expecting Mezool to try to strangle her as Ankh had during their first meeting. Instead, she heard mental laughter and felt something bubbling up within her.

                _Oh, I would never do anything like that,_ Mezool assured. _Don't worry. As soon as I'm done, you can have all the dreams you could ever want. Just you and me._

                That bubble of something was rising out of Hina's throat, along with it every scream, every word, every sound she had ever made in her life, echoing in her ears. Like in the story, the sea witch was taking her voice as payment for giving her legs, but it wasn't anything Hina had asked for.

                She tried to press her lips closed, even against Mezool's gills, but it was no use. The more she resisted, the more the arms around her tightened. She felt herself being pulled back, through the mirror and away from Mezool. The bubble, glowing a faint blue like the betta fish she'd seen earlier, escaped her mouth, and Mezool breathed it in through her gills, taking it for her own. As Hina was pulled through the mirror, she watched Mezool change into her exact double.

                The reflection-Mezool disappeared as soon as the real one had taken on Hina's appearance, and Hina fell to unfamiliar sand. She got up, her dream-legs feeling as natural as her real ones, and she pounded against the black shell mirror, screaming soundlessly while Mezool laughed with her voice.

                "There, there," she said, leaning against the vanity in such a way that Hina had a clear view of her own cleavage. She flushed with anger and glared.

                "Don't fret, little mermaid," Mezool insisted. "Or is it little human, now? Either way, you'll have your dream back as soon as I'm done. Then the both of us will finally have what we want."

                The image faded, until Hina found herself staring into a smooth, but non-reflective black seashell, on some beach she didn't recognize. She heard voices coming from a little closer to the water, and she crept behind a plumeria tree to see Ankh stalking away from both Satonaka and Date, toward her.

                A sense of alarm filled her, and she darted into the trees and flowers before he could see her. He saw _something_ , however, and for a moment, he pushed branches out of the way to look for her, while she hid behind a thick oleander bush, not even daring to breathe until he continued onward.

                She didn't know why she was so afraid to face him, now that she knew that, indeed, everything here was a lie created for her amusement. Maybe she just didn't want to hear him gloat.

                But Ankh was her best hope for help stopping Mezool, and she finally started following after him, keeping to the plantlife as cover until she felt brave enough to face him. She waited until he crossed a small pond beside a hillside grotto, then waded through the water after him, taking care not to give herself away with a splash as she climbed out.

                He was climbing a set of stone stairs by that point, and she knew the sound of her sandals against them would give her away. Instead, she tried to climb the hill through the jasmine, orange, and mimosa grove growing up its side.

                The climb was treacherous, especially in heels. As she struggled, she suddenly heard Ankh call out, "Are you kidding me? You're really that afraid to show yourself?"

                She froze, even though it sounded like he hadn't actually seen her. Still, he added, "I already know you're there. You may as well come out."

                No, she couldn't. How could she confront him? He'd want her to explain, and she...she wasn't sure she would have one for him even if she could speak.

                She turned and tried to escape down the hill again. Date and Satonaka might still be on the beach; maybe they could help.

                But Ankh leapt down and began chasing her, and in her hurry to get away, she stumbled on a branch and started to fall toward the water.

                He caught her by the back of her skirt. As she slowly turned toward him, she saw her own expression of shock reflected on his face.

                For a long moment, he said nothing. Finally, he let go of her dress and huffed. "Finally decided to grow up?"

                She turned her burning face away from him, clutching her skirt like a lifeline. It was obvious that he noticed and wanted to say something, but he held his tongue, probably remembering what she'd done the last time he'd upset her.

                ...God, she'd tried to kill him, hadn't she? Just what would she have done if she'd ended up completely under Mezool's thrall? And Mezool or no, how could she do something like this?

                Worse, there was no way she could apologize or try to fix what she'd done already.

                Ankh remained careful with his next words as he asked, "Have you seen Eiji?"

                She had, but he'd disappeared as soon as Mezool attacked him. She'd said she hadn't done anything to him, but Hina knew now that she couldn't trust her. Even so, without any proof and no way to explain, all she could do was shake her head.

                Ankh clicked his tongue. "Still out there, then. The idiot's doing better than expected."

                The usual flush of anger came with the insult to Eiji, but Hina had no voice to defend him. But it was expected, and when she didn't try to argue with him, Ankh raised a suspicious eyebrow her way.

                She could at least meet his gaze with a cool glare of her own. Whether or not it was enough to convince him not to pry, she wasn't sure, but he turned away all the same.

                "You're more help than those morons, anyway," he muttered, stalking off to the stairs again. "Come on. I'm going to find a way to get a message out to Eiji. Maybe he'll be able to get us out of here."

                She wasn't sure how much she'd really be able to help, but it was better than waiting on the hill for Mezool to give her back control, after she'd undoubtedly do something horrible to Eiji.

                At the top of the hill was a European-style village that, to nobody's surprise, was abandoned. Ankh scowled as they walked past open doors and empty houses—all looked as if they'd been lived in, but not for some time.

                "What the hell did you imagine?" he muttered, not really expecting Hina to answer.

                For her part, Hina shrank in on herself. If this truly was a nightmare, she knew what dark part of her mind it had sprung from—the part that had clung to her brother tightly since she got the news of her parents' deaths. The part that nearly broke when he went missing, taken by Ankh. The fear of being alone, abandoned; of a silent, empty place.

                "Huh?" Ankh asked suddenly, coming to a stop.

                Hina almost walked into his back, just barely stopping herself. Ahead was a glorious golden fountain, spouting clear, sparkling water. In the center of the large, round basin were dolphins, otters, seahorses, and other animals that she recognized from the undersea carousel, all spitting water outward as they circled three raised tiers, like a wedding cake, that generated a waterfall. The lowest tier had statues of mermaids, bearing conch shells that sprayed out water. The next tier bore women in sheer robes, water arcing out of amphorae held above their heads. The water all came to fall at the feet of the statue on the highest tier—a winged, male figure that looked suspiciously like Ankh.

                He was looking Hina's way, half-hoping and half-dreading to hear an explanation. Instead, she walked forward into the basin, slowly, trembling.

                It was Latona Fountain—or at least, based off of the famous fountain of Versailles, in its prime. There could not have been a more powerful symbol of her desire to see France and all of its opulence—the extravagant style and beauty that had inspired her love of fashion as art.

                _And there was Ankh standing on top of it._

                Ankh didn't know what to do when Hina dropped to her knees and started crying, her whole body shaking as she heaved choking sobs from the hole in her heart. It wasn't like the few times Eiji had let him see his sorrow and pain—Ankh couldn't just say something to distract her.

                It occurred to him to try to help her up and out of the water, but as he awkwardly reached down, she smacked his hand away—not as hard as she normally would have, but with enough force that it came as a surprise.

                "Fine," he answered after a moment. "I'll look around. When you're ready..."

                He didn't know how to finish the sentence. Come look for him? He'd be waiting? Nothing felt right, but what else could he do? He didn't know how to deal with humans and their emotions, and certainly not hers.

                He could at least set his coat on the edge of the fountain so that she'd have something dry to wear when she was ready to come out. He didn't try to make sense of the feelings behind why he thought to do it—only that it seemed to ease his peace of mind, and maybe that it would help bring her back to her senses, somehow, to have this basic dignity given back.

                He waited just a moment to see if she'd changed her mind, then walked down one of the empty avenues, hoping whatever that tight sensation in his chest was would go away.

 

~~~

 

                A sudden swell of consciousness hit Eiji, and before he could understand why, he woke up, gasping out, "Ankh!"

                All at once, he tried to sit up, again too confused to recognize his surroundings or understand why he didn't see Ankh lounging in his nest across from him. He did, however, understand the shots of sharp pain in his stomach that told him to lie back down again.

                He'd disturbed the blanket that had been over him, and now he could see a trio of plastic bracelets on his right wrist. One listed his name, date of birth, and other identifying information. A second listed his allergies. The third, however, read, "If found, please return to Musashikawa General Hospital."

                That was what happened to him. He remembered now. He had been seriously injured and needed to go to the hospital, and they'd sedated him to sleep before he could run off and hurt himself more.

                He tried to settle himself back to sleep. But it wasn't easy—his mouth was unbearably dry from the medication. He could faintly remember being told that he could call the nurses' station if he needed anything, so he found the call button again and pressed it, hoping someone could bring him some water and maybe some kind of different medicine for the pain.

                Nobody came, so he pressed it again. After a couple of more minutes passed with no answer, he reasoned that they must have had a smaller staff at night and were busy with other patients. There was no point in bothering them if he just needed to fill up a cup from the sink.

                But it was difficult getting out of bed. He couldn't just sit up, with his stomach as bad as it was, so he firmly pressed the pillow against himself as he slid his legs off the side of the bed and slowly brought himself up. It was painful, and he dug his fingernails into both the pillow and the edge of the bed until he was standing and breathing heavily from exertion. But he made it to the sink and filled a plastic cup with water, slowly sipping past the cottony feeling in his mouth and wincing as the cold dripped into his injured stomach.

                When he was done, he took a few deep breaths, clutching his pillow for support. Maybe he did need to request painkillers after all. He returned for his blanket, then wrapped it around himself and stepped out into the hall.

                "Excuse me?" he called out, his voice hoarse. "Nurse? Excuse me?"

                He took a step and immediately felt his foot squelch against something cold and wet. Before he had the chance to register the bubbles, his mind filled with water and the terrible sight of an entire ship's passengers and crew sinking below the waves, none of them as lucky as he'd been.

                The slow realization that he was the only survivor ( _again_ , something within him cried) filled him with a sense of dread and guilt that he was intimately familiar with, filling his chest with emptiness and cold. The Medals drank it in, responding within seconds, snapping him awake and pulling his foot back until he'd returned to the safety of his room.

                Mezool had been there. If he focused his senses carefully, he could still pick up traces of her, but they were faint. If she was indeed still there, she was on the move.

                He went to the set of clothes that Shoko had brought him, digging around for the OOO driver. It wasn't there; Kougami likely had kept it just to prevent him from trying to run off and fight the moment he woke up.

                There was no choice. He had to go out alone, unaided. He crept out of his room more cautiously, side-stepping the bubbles and taking care to keep the sound of his feet against the tile from echoing in the hallway. All around, he could see bubble nests marking where hospital staff and patients alike had been put to sleep—only his room had been untouched.

                Why? Was it because Mezool feared setting off his powers, when they'd already negated the bubbles' effects once? Or did she have something else in mind for him?

                He felt a brief flash from his Medals, sensing something behind him, and he slowly turned. He couldn't see anyone, and it only emphasized how much of a liability he was now. He was too slow; someone could easily get the drop on him.

                The next flare was powerful, insistent, and right in front of him. But he had no time or way to defend himself against a blast of water that hit him in the chest, throwing him to the floor. He fell hard, lying in a daze for a moment—long enough that the water droplets began to seep underneath him, circling him until it formed a globe around him, suspending him in water.

                Was this it? Was this Mezool's plan—to drown him? Already, though, he could feel the Medals activate, the more his lungs starved. And despite there not being any bubbles this time, in his mind's eye, he could still see those dark waters. But this time, when he reached out, he didn't see Hina—only the shadows.

                Whatever that darkness was inside of him, he reached for it anyway, calling forth the Medals' power. It came not as ice, but as dark, null energy, cold all the same.

                The power tore through the water globe, just enough that he could fall to his knees, gasping for breath, his eyes still purple. He sensed Mezool again, and power flowed through him enough that he could jump to his feet, turning to throw a punch at her.

                His fist stopped centimeters in front of Hina's face.

                She seemed unconscious, held in place by Mezool, who kept her in front like a shield as she remarked, "I wouldn't, unless you want to hurt your poor princess."

                Eiji's arm began shaking, and slowly, he lowered it and stepped back.

                "Good," she cooed. "Now, turn off those Medals and let's talk."

                He took a few deep breaths, still trembling and shallower than he'd prefer, but they got his heart to stop racing and signaled the Medals to go inert.

                Once he felt the adrenaline flush out of him and all of the pain and weakness return, he demanded, "What do you want?"

                "More than you could ever give me, OOO boy," she laughed, and he had the strange feeling that whatever she meant had gone well over his head.

                "You have all your Medals," he pointed out. "If you think I'm just going to let you...devour the world, whatever that means..."

                "Oh, I can wait on _that_ ," she insisted. "For right now, I can settle for the girl."

                She drew her fingers across Hina's cheek, and something—not the Medals, somehow—surged within Eiji until he growled, "You can't have her."

                Mezool laughed in the face of his anger, as if it didn't matter that he could easily transform into a dangerous berserker. But then, to a fully revived Greeed, maybe it _didn't_ matter; Kazari had shown him, hadn't he?

                "I already have her," she said. "But there's one little thing you can do for me."

                Eiji tensed, ready to hear anything except for what came next:

                "Surrender."

                He stared at her, wide-eyed as he asked, "What?"

                "You heard me," she replied sternly. "You're in no condition to fight, and I'm not about to give her up. And since killing you might make it harder to keep her as a hostage, the best thing for the both of us is for you to give up."

                He looked away, unwilling to make eye contact with her or Hina as he struggled with the decision that should have come easily. If she'd demanded Ankh's location, if she'd demanded he let her kill him, he would have fought. It didn't matter that he didn't have the driver or any other means of protecting himself—he would have done everything possible to buy time for help to arrive.

                But giving up meant that he couldn't do anything. Not for Ankh, not for himself. But at least it would guarantee Hina's safety a little longer. It might even mean he could find a way to rescue her.

                He heard a slight gasp and looked up. Hina was opening her eyes. For a split-second, she was confused, but she soon realized there were streams of water binding her, and she began to struggle helplessly against them.

                "I'll do it!" he insisted.

                Hina looked up at him, as if in surprise, but Mezool didn't give her a chance to try to talk him out of it. At once, the waters burst away from her and wrapped themselves around Eiji, spinning themselves into a tight globe that kept him curled in on himself. Enough air had been trapped inside that he could breathe, but he couldn't move without fear of being caught up in the furiously rushing waters. He had no way to see or hear as Mezool gathered him and Hina in another stream of water and carried them off, leaving the hawk candroid to fly back home.

                It was time.

 

~~~

 

                It had been decided that the safest place Shoko could be was at the Kougami Foundation, where there were plenty of Ride Vendor troopers to help watch over her. Kougami himself assured her that he had no reason to believe that the Greeed might target her like they had Ankh, but as long as Hina was held prisoner, they had to assume that her friends would be in danger.

                She took a shaky breath as she walked past the infirmary where Goto, Date, and Chiyoko were kept, under less rigid security than Ankh was. Shoko couldn't stand it either way; it felt too much like a morgue, especially when nobody could do anything to help them—it was impossible to touch them without likewise being swallowed up in sea foam, and the staff was unsure if any kind of remote devices they could use to attach monitoring equipment might somehow injure them by disturbing the bubbles too much.

                In the adjoining lab, the troopers had placed a milk can they had recovered from Cous Coussier. Now that it was open, Shoko could see that it was full of silver coins—Cell Medals, they had told her—and that on a computer table beside it was a large belt. The one Eiji had worn while fighting was at another computer. Though the designs were drastically different, she could spot the similarities in purpose—they were both intended to transform the wearer into a warrior.

                "Was that at the restaurant?" she asked a trooper near the first belt.

                "The Birth system?" he asked. When she nodded, he said, "Yeah. They were caught completely off-guard. Nobody had the chance to equip it."

                "If it would have protected them anyway," a scientist said, examining something through a microscope. "OOO himself nearly got trapped too."

                "Is there a way to strengthen it?" Shoko asked. "Somehow make it immune?"

                "Not so much immune," the scientist replied, dropping a bit of solution from a pipette into her petri dish. "But if we can create a substance that would keep the bubbles from adhering, it could offer Birth and OOO some protection."

                "Assuming OOO gets out of the hospital any time soon," the trooper pointed out. "I could pick any of my men to take over as Birth, and no matter how seasoned he is, there's no way he'd be able to handle all those guys alone."

                "What about using the solution on the people already trapped?" Shoko asked. "Use it to make the bubbles dissipate?"

                "It might not be safe for use on humans," the scientist pointed out. "We'd risk spraying innocent people with a chemical we might just now be inventing, with no knowledge of the long-term health risks. We can't afford that."

                The news was discouraging. It seemed like nothing she could offer would help. Did Hina ever feel like this? Or did she somehow manage to always know exactly what to say or do to make everything better?

                It was an unfair thought, and Shoko knew it. No, Hina had to have felt this restless frustration, and it had to be worse now that she was captured. Shoko just had to be patient with herself.

                She retreated to the break room sink and retrieved the bag of clothing she'd swapped out from Eiji's room. The bloodstains were large and worrying on the T-shirt and jeans, even though she'd seen for herself that he was recovering well after surgery, even if he did need a lot of rest. She took some club soda and poured it over the stains, then let the clothes soak in the sink. It was a long shot that all of the blood could be removed, but at least she could try.

                There were some stains on the inside of the blazer too, from the frozen blood melting and dripping all over Eiji. She frowned and looked it over more thoroughly—the coat was her own design, part of a men's business wear collection designed to be weatherproof and chic. She'd lent it to Eiji because of the rain, so he wouldn't ruin his outfit.

                Just as designed, the blazer had repelled the water. She could only see the faintest droplets of dried blood on the outside, and they wiped away easily with a damp towel. And if it could protect against blood and ice, then she couldn't see why it couldn't repel the bubbles as well. It was common water-repellent fabric. The troopers had to have rain gear somewhere...

                The lights suddenly cut out, and for a moment, Shoko had to sit in pitch blackness until the emergency lights turned on. She stood up cautiously, trying not to give into the fears that plagued her—had the storm knocked out the power? Or worse, had the Greeed returned? Was everyone all right?

                It didn't help that as soon as she opened the door, she saw troops on the move.

                "What's going on?" she asked.

                One of the troopers stopped his march for a moment, long enough to explain, "Power outage, but we're doing security sweeps just in case. Please remain where you are."

                She slipped back inside and did her best to feel relieved. The Foundation was treating an ordinary blackout with as much seriousness as an attack. It was smart. She'd be safe.

                But her instincts were screaming at her that this was no ordinary outage. The timing was just too peculiar. Ignoring the bloodstains, she pulled on the blazer and headed back to the lab, hoping that it was only her fears getting the best of her.

                The troopers had left for their sweep, but the scientists were just as hard at work as ever. Someone noticed Shoko walk in and started to block off the entrance, warning, "I'm sorry, you can't be in here right now."

                "It's an attack, isn't it?" she asked.

                "There's no way to know that for certain. Right now, I need you to..."

                As if to confirm her suspicions, gunfire rang out in the hallway. For a second, everyone froze, and then the technician at the door pulled Shoko away and started trying to barricade it.

                It never held. Wind blew in the door, and Shoko found herself and the scientists all thrown to the floor as Kazari entered, stepping over the prone bodies of injured troopers.

                "Well, look what we have here," he drawled.

                The researcher closest to the Birth Driver reached for it, ready to equip it, but Kazari fired off a spike from his mane, hitting her directly in the hand. She screamed and dropped to the floor as he wagged his finger mockingly.

                "Now, is that really how you want to do this?" he asked. "You all could have come out of this alive."

                He stepped past Shoko, as if completely blind to her—and maybe he was. The lights were still dim, and she was wearing black while lying on the floor. She blended in with the shadows. It was the perfect opportunity to escape.

                But she could see a dazed trooper lying in front of her, just outside the door, weapon at his side. It was a grenade launcher—he had been ready to fire something effective on Kazari before he'd been attacked.

                He managed to make eye contact with Shoko and started to reach for his gun. She nodded and silently crept across the floor, keeping her body as still as she could manage while dragging herself across the floor, doing everything she could to avoid drawing Kazari's attention as he smashed computers and terrorized the scientists. She finally crossed the distance and reached out for the weapon...

                "And what are _you_ doing?"

                Her heart stopped, and a whirlwind picked her up—but not before she'd managed to grab hold of the gun and hold it close, out of sight.

                "Trying to escape?" he guessed. "Nice try. But unfortunately, thanks to your friend over there trying to play the hero, nobody's making it out of here today."

                The wind broke down, presumably so he could attack her. It was her one and only chance. Just as Kazari pulled back his claws, Shoko thrust the gun forward and fired.

                It was too close for him to see it coming. The grenade was forced through the Cell Medals comprising his body and exploded, throwing Shoko back forcefully. She hit the wall, hearing the injured scientist shout, "Hurry! Before he re-forms!"

                Adrenaline kept her from feeling her injuries, and she scrambled to her feet to see the scientists hurriedly snatching Medals from the floor as scattered yellow ones began glowing and gathering more Cell Medals together. They finally called it off and started hurrying out the door as Kazari began to take shape again, but another researcher snatched the two Drivers and tossed them over toward Shoko, who fumbled to catch them.

                "What?" she asked.

                "We couldn't treat them, so be careful," he warned. "Get upstairs—they're after Ankh!"

                She nodded and began running, keeping a tight grip on the Drivers and hoping she would make it through all right.

 

~~~

                There was really no point in looking around the town. Ankh really was the only human there—thrown in almost as an afterthought, a desperate attempt to make him fit into a fantasy he was never supposed to be part of, and making it blatantly obvious that he didn't belong.

                Still, it was a distraction that took what was probably enough time for Hina to calm down, so he started making his way back to the fountain.

                The coat was gone when he reached it, and so was she.  He let out a growl under his breath—now he was going to have to wander this maze of streets to find her again.

                "Ankh?"

                Hina's voice was coming from a tunnel not far away, surrounded by more winged sculptures. Ankh clicked his tongue and started walking toward it.

                "Ankh?" he heard again.

                "Fine, I'm coming," he called back, regretting that of all the things he hadn't said, "don't wander off" had to be one of them.

                He headed off into the tunnel, unaware of the streams of water slowly trickling down over the entrance, creating a waterfall that cut him off from the outside.


	7. Something's Starting Right Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Hina and Ankh flee Mezool, Eiji tries to find a way to rescue Hina from the aquarium. But Lost Ankh, Kazari, and Gamel are coming for Ankh at the Foundation, and the only person left in their way is Shoko.

                The water globe finally broke apart, and Eiji was unceremoniously dumped on some kind of swaying platform. He felt himself sliding, and in panic, he reached up and grabbed hold of a rail, realizing belatedly that he was on a pirate ship pendulum ride.

                Next to him was Hina, sitting properly on the ride and staring at him as he held on tightly, feeling every lurch in his stomach. His eyes were squeezed tight, so he never saw as she raised a hand to his face. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt it, staring up at her with shock and seeing something like alarm in her eyes.

                The ride came to a stop, and the protective rail lifted up. Even though he was shaky on his feet, Eiji stood up immediately and went to help Hina.

                "Are you okay?" he asked desperately.

                She was still staring, as if shocked that she was his first priority, not himself. But slowly, she nodded and stood up. A sense of relief flooded him, even though he could still pick up Mezool's presence around them. He blinked the purple fog out of his eyes and turned back to Hina, taking her hand and leading her past a carousel and a ticket stand.

                "Mezool's still here, somewhere," he warned. "I'm going to try and get you out of here."

                Hina shook her head. "There's no way out. Look."

                She pointed toward a hall just beyond them—the entrance, he guessed. The lights were dim, other than the blue and white lights of the carousel, so it took a moment for him to realize it wasn't just the twinkling LEDs that were shimmering against the walls, but a massive bubble nest—each globule as big as his head. He stopped in place, staring at the nest with a hint of fear. There was no safe way for him to pass through. Eventually, he too would succumb to the dream, and Hina would...

                "Wait," he said, realizing suddenly that something didn't make sense. "Hina, how did you wake up? Nobody else..."

                She shook her head, her eyes welling up with tears. "I don't know. All I know is, I was surrounded by water, and then I saw you."

                She was starting to cling to his arm, terrified. Eiji forced himself to relax the tenseness from his body, giving her a smile.

                "It's okay. At least you're safe, right?"

                She nodded softly. "But what about you? You're hurt, right?"

                "I'll be fine," he insisted. "Don't worry."

                "You should sit down," she said, leading him over to the carousel. She walked up to one of the clamshell chairs on the edge and sat him down on the outermost side. "Here."

                As soon as he started to lower himself onto the seat, pain tore through his stomach again, badly enough that he thought for a moment that his Medals were going to take control of him. He shut his eyes tightly, fighting the waves of angry, violet energy emanating from his chest.

                He felt Hina's hand again, and his eyes snapped open. The Medals went quiet again, as if they were just as confused as he was, staring at her as she ran her fingers across his cheek.

                It took a moment for him to find his voice, but he hesitantly asked, "What is it?"

                "You're in pain," she pointed out.

                He shook his head. "It's not as bad as it..."

                She placed a finger against his lips to silence him, and for some reason, it reminded him of Ankh's habit of grabbing his face to get his attention or shut him up. But that was ridiculous, right?

                Hina walked over to the machine that ran the carousel and started it up. Eiji felt the ride start to spin, and he started to move his legs over to get off and join her. But she lifted up the hem of her skirt and ran over, leaping onto the ride with athletic ability he hadn't expected.

                He stared at her in shock, like he was seeing her for the first time, but she smiled and took a seat next to him.

                "There," she said. "Now, you can rest."

                He let himself laugh as gently as he could manage, then slid his legs back into the ride and rested against the shell. He'd just closed his eyes when he felt Hina lean up against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He tensed up again for a moment, but again he made himself relax, surprised at his own reaction. Why was he so nervous? Hina needed the comfort; she had been brave long enough.

                He reached down for her hand and held it comfortingly. She smiled and closed her eyes, and finally, Eiji did the same. They could rest for now. Mezool hadn't done anything yet. He could figure out how to escape after.

                Whatever purple abyss there was in his chest seemed to swallow up the Medals for a while, letting them sink into the nothingness from which they came. For now, they could be forgotten.

 

~~~

 

                With the power still out, Shoko had to dash up the stairs, clutching tight to her prizes—the two belts that had been tossed to her, and a scant handful of Medals she'd gathered when she saw the others trying to prevent Kazari's full revival. Nearly all of them were the silver Cell Medals, but one was a nearly transparent yellow one, carved with some kind of cat she couldn't make out.

                She stopped for breath halfway up to Ankh's floor. Her back was sore—she'd hit the wall hard, and adrenaline could only carry her so far. She had to hope that she wasn't too seriously hurt and that she could hold out long enough to get the drivers to someone who could help defend Ankh.

                Another explosion sounded above her, and she pressed herself flat against the wall as a portion of the staircase came crumbling down. She could hear more shots as the troops opened fire on whatever threat they were battling, but soon the shots turned into shouts as they were defeated.

                Shoko looked for the nearest door. She did not want to get caught up in whatever that was. But at the same time, that was where she needed to go, in order to help stave off the attack on Ankh. What was she supposed to do?

                And then Gamel leapt down the stairs, landing right in front of her, nearly collapsing the platform. She shrieked, recognizing him, and he covered his ears, moaning.

                "Too loud," he complained before swiping out at her.

                She only just managed to sidestep the attack and duck through the door, forcing herself to run across the hall. There had to be another stairwell, or at least another Ride Vendor patrol who would be passing by in an attempt to get to the higher floors. She could pass on the belts then, and find somewhere safe to hide.

                But any hope of finding safety was lost when a set of sharp claws ripped the doors open on one of the elevators, with Kazari hovering within the shaft on a whirlwind. He leaned through, taking a step on solid ground, and saw her immediately.

                "You again," he noticed. "That was a clever trick you pulled before. I'm not going to let you get another chance."

                He brandished his claws at her, and the blades on his back extended. Shoko paled and started to back up, but Gamel had followed her. Kazari let his blades retract and said, "On second thought, Gamel? This shouldn't be too hard for you. I'll even give you a donation."

                He flicked a Cell Medal Gamel's way. The megafauna Greeed nodded as he caught it, opening a slot on his own forehead.

                "Okay," he answered, inserting the Medal in the slot.

                A Yummy tumbled out of him, quickly taking form as a bipedal giraffe that swung its long neck. Kazari threw Shoko forward with another gust of wind, and she crashed straight into the giraffe's neck. It threw her into another wall, and she crumpled, feeling every bone in her body ache.

                "I'm going to go help Ankh," Kazari said, making his way over to the stairwell. "You take care of this here."

                "Okay!" Gamel replied.

                _No,_ Shoko thought desperately. Though she had no idea just what Kazari planned to do, she knew she had to protect Ankh. And right now, she was getting the distinct impression that she was the only one who could.

                She had two transformation belts. She attempted Eiji's first, pressing it against her waist and trying to fill it with Cell Medals, but nothing would activate. The Cell Medals didn't seem to fit properly in the device, and it wasn't intuitive enough that she could figure out how to make it transform her.

                The mistake cost her time, and the Yummy only charged her again, ready to pummel her. She rolled out of the way this time, giving up on the OOO driver and swapping for Birth, clipping the belt around herself. They'd said that someone else could use it, right?

                The Yummy came for her again, but she inserted a Cell Medal into the driver's slot and turned the dial. Energy formed around her, like a capsule, equipping the armor over her body just in time for her to raise an arm and block the attack.

                The blow was strong, but it didn't hurt quite as much as it would have without the armor. Shoko felt her bones rattle, but she was able to push the Yummy off and shove a fist in its chest, forcing it back.

                Gamel watched the fight play out like a wrestling match that he suddenly realized wasn't going his way. As the giraffe Yummy staggered back, Gamel cried out, "You hurt my Yummy!" and threw a nearby potted plant at her. Shoko crossed her arms in front of herself to block, and it fell to the ground, the pot shattering. However, that only enraged Gamel more, and he charged her, pinning her arms to her chest as he slammed her into the wall again.

                A screeching sound rang through the hall, and Shoko caught a glimpse of a mechanical bird just before it flew in between her face and Gamel's, startling him. He let go of her in surprise and backed off, swatting at the air but failing to hit the bird. However, it distracted him from noticing the equally small, robotic grasshopper that had been dropped onto Shoko's shoulder.

                "Ah, Ms. Sugiura!"

                She almost jumped—she recognized Kougami's voice, but it seemed extremely loud to come from whatever small speaker was in the candroid.

                "Mr. Kougami?" she asked, wary.

                "I see that you've equipped the Birth driver. Excellent!"

                The hawk managed to evade Gamel again, and he lost his temper, calling his Yummy over to assist him. Fortunately, the hawk was nimble enough to avoid the Yummy's swinging neck, dodging into the elevator shaft.

                "I wonder, though," Kougami continued. "Did anyone have the chance to explain to you how the Birth system works?"

                "No," she squeaked out, scared as Gamel turned his attention back to her.

                "Oh!" he gasped. "You escaped!"

                The Yummy came at her again with its neck, but it was just far enough away still that she could read its movements and dodge. But she was running out of room to do so, and running out of time. Ankh was still the primary target.

                "You should still have some Cell Medals that you retrieved from Kazari, correct?" Kougami asked.

                Shoko ducked another attack and looked at the silver Medals. "What good are they now? I already transformed!"

                "Insert another in the driver's slot," Kougami explained. "Depending on how far you turn the dial, you should find a useful weapon."

                The next attack came too close for comfort, and she had to scramble on the floor to get away, cramming a Medal into the slot.

                "Can't you tell me more than that?" she begged.

                "Nope!" he answered far too excitedly for comfort. "It'll be much more interesting for you to find out on your own, like Date does!"

                That was not encouraging, but she had no other choice. She turned the dial and felt a popping sensation from the armor as a large apparatus equipped itself from her right shoulder down to her hand, ending in a hook. It was heavy, but the second the Yummy's head came swinging down on her again, she raised the arm to block, only for the hook to shoot off, attached by a cable that entangled itself around the Yummy's neck.

                Now, she stood a chance of fighting back. Yanking as hard as she could, she swung the Yummy into one wall, and then while it was dazed, slammed it back again, this time hitting Gamel. Gamel started to realize what was happening and put out his hands to block, but he only skidded across the floor, crashing through the wall and into the elevator shaft.

                Shoko watched worriedly for a moment as she let go of the Yummy and let it fall, but Gamel was too slow and heavy to stop their descent. It was a victory, even if it had come from an extreme amount of luck.

                She'd just have to be lucky against Kazari too. She launched the Crane Arm to the very top of the shaft, then pulled herself up to the correct floor. She swung herself a few times so she could kick in the doors, crumpling them just enough to get through.

                "Oh?"

                Kazari was standing next to another Greeed that she just barely recognized from Cous Coussier—a red, birdlike one with a purple right hand and half of his face, who turned away from the fires he'd set ahead of them and asked, "Who?"

                "Don't worry," Kazari insisted, putting a comforting hand on Lost Ankh's shoulder. "Just something I need to clean up."

                Shoko held out the Crane Arm in front of herself as protection as Kazari began walking toward her.

                "So, I have to admit this came as a surprise," he said. "Didn't think you'd be brave enough to use Birth."

                The claws extended from his back again as he started running toward her. Shoko hurriedly whipped the Crane Arm around, but Kazari's mane wrapped around it, yanking her closer to him. She only had seconds to insert another Cell Medal in the Birth driver and twist wildly in the hopes of defending herself—she lucked out and activated a wing, that allowed her to pull herself back until she broke free.

                "Well, you're handling that thing pretty well for a beginner," Kazari noticed. "Still, you should know that it wasn't built to fight us."

                Right now, she didn't care about that. She was too afraid. She inserted her next Cell Medal and twisted, activating the Caterpillar Legs. As he leapt at her, she kicked out, the treads on her feet grinding Cell Medals off of his body and sticking them to hers.

                "That's annoying," Kazari admitted, stepping back. "Looks like I need to take this a lot more seriously."

                That was all the warning Shoko had before he threw her through the wall.

 

~~~

 

                Ankh was relieved when the tunnel he'd traveled down did not, in fact, lead to another cave system; rather, it led to another tree-lined road that curved around, past where he could see. The trees were higher than in the previous roads and groves too—tall, but perfectly manicured, raining leaves and assorted petals down on the road.

                While it wasn't exactly like the hillside garden that they had passed through before, it looked enough like it that Ankh wasn't entirely surprised that Hina might have wandered in here and gotten lost. He clicked his tongue in aggravation and followed the path.

                The road led to two more, leading in opposite directions—a maze, he guessed. Annoyed, he called out, "Where are you?"

                "Ankh?"

                The voice seemed to come from his right. Turning down that road, he called, "Stay there!"

                That road forked into two more, but Hina's voice continued to carry through the maze. He followed the next path, only to find a dead end.

                "Ankh?"

                The voice was coming from behind him this time, but he didn't dare try to follow it. He glanced at the trees, but they were too carefully trimmed for him to climb—there were no branches strong enough to hold him, and without his Greeed abilities, he doubted he'd be able to just leap to the top and perch himself there.

                "Mezool," he growled, recognizing the trap.

                The sound of Hina's laughter rang throughout the maze, like bells coming from every direction, followed soon by the roar of rushing water. Ankh wasted no time pushing his way through the trees, just as a flash flood surged behind him. The water followed behind him, but he'd given himself a little time—as the water tore down trees, the trunks became entangled with others still standing, creating small, natural dams that slowed the current's progress through the maze.

                He reached the outside again, but on a different side from where he'd entered. He had no idea where the tunnel back to town was, not to mention what had happened to Hina, but he had a pretty good guess that Mezool did.

                "Still playing games?" he demanded. "I'd have thought with all your Medals back, you'd have dumped the girl and gone after a bigger prize."

                She laughed again, still in Hina's voice. That didn't surprise him, not when he knew her Medals were inside Hina's body. "Oh, I will, eventually. But right now, she's still useful to me. But you'd know all about that, what with your OOO boy?"

                An unpleasant chill went through him, an entirely too human sensation that he neither expected nor appreciated. His voice became lower and more threatening as he asked, "What did you do to Eiji?"

                He heard the sound of water from behind him and turned. There was Mezool, wearing Hina's form, but instead of blue fading to white, her gown was midnight blue with black, ruffled organza. Her eyes seemed permanently stained blue, her lips in a smirk as she asked, "Are you sure you want to know?"

                Again, the sound of water alerted him to an attack, giving him time to twist and duck out of the way before a stream of water could strike him from the side. He tried to keep his distance from Mezool while keeping her in sight at all times, but it didn't really matter; with a flick of her hand, she redirected the water flow to hit him in the chest.

                "It was so much easier to stop the OOO boy," she taunted as Ankh got to his feet with barely enough time to dodge the next stream. "Just one blast took him down."

                Ankh snorted, trying to ignore the tiny strand of fear that she might be telling the truth. "Like I really believe something like that is enough to kill him."

                Another stream pushed him farther back as Mezool smirked. "Maybe not kill," she admitted. "He was so brave, fighting back when I tried to drown him."

                Ankh clenched his fist, knowing he couldn't do anything other than dodge her attacks and listen to her taunt him. She wanted him to feel helpless, to taste every drop of fear from knowing he had no power to protect himself and even less to protect Eiji.

                "That still doesn't mean he's dead," he pointed out.

                The streams dropped, the water seeping back through the ground harmlessly. Ankh didn't lower his guard, instead even more guarded as he asked, "What's your angle this time?"

                "Poor Ankh," she said, walking closer. "You really have no idea how little you mean to him."

                He stayed in place, refusing to step backwards in case of another trap—maybe some massive wave that he hadn't heard, right behind him, waiting for him to walk in and drown. But he kept his fists clenched, ready to strike as she came even closer.

                "He tried to do the same, when he sensed me coming," she pointed out, looking down at his fists for a moment. "But all I had to do was show him the girl, and he surrendered immediately."

                Another step closer, and he stiffened, watching every move she made. He wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing how deeply the comment stung, even when she added, "I wonder—would he have done the same for you?"

                His mistake, though, was letting her get too close. She raised a hand, summoning a stream of water that was too near to avoid, and it hit him in the chest like a hammer. Just as he'd feared, there was a large sphere of water right behind him, and the attack threw him directly inside it. Mezool didn't have to do anything else; she just laughed as she watched him suffocate. There was nothing he could do. He could feel himself losing consciousness (feel the pull of his other half, entering his room without resistance now that Kazari was fighting Birth). He could...

                He could see Mezool react to something that had been thrown at her. She blasted another stream of water that way, moving it closer toward Ankh, but he wasn't aware enough to figure out what it meant until he felt a body slamming into his. Suddenly, the water bubble popped, and he was dropped to the ground, gasping for air as someone grabbed him by the chest and desperately pulled him away.

                "What are you doing?" Mezool demanded, still using Hina's voice. "You know that deep down, this is what you want."

                A rush of cold went through him, waking him up enough to look over his shoulder at his rescuer—somehow, impossibly, Hina. She shook her head as tears streamed down her face, straining silently to pull Ankh along with her, and the cold spiked. She was inhumanly strong. This should have been easy for her.

                Ankh's coat lay at their feet, now soaked from her little stunt to free him. Mezool was still focused on Hina, so Ankh grabbed it and threw it at her face, catching her off-guard long enough to leap to his feet and grab Hina's hand so they could run.

                She tried to keep up as best as she could, with only one shoe remaining and while trying not to trip over the hem of her gown. But it was vital that they got away as quickly as possible; Mezool had recovered from her shock and called forth the rushing waterfall at the end of the tunnel back to town.

                "Down!" Ankh shouted.

                Hina ducked even as he started pushing her head down, both of them narrowly dodging the blast  of water coming their way. It started to curve itself around to grab them from behind, but Ankh pulled her along, through the tunnel and out into the sculpture garden.

                "This way," he insisted, pulling her through the town and away from the fountain.

                They darted to the edge of the hilltop and hiked through the foliage, avoiding the stairs that went past the watery grotto. All the while, Hina's mind raced as quickly as her heart. Date and Satonaka were down at the beach, but they couldn't risk going down there and leading Mezool to a larger water source. So they had to be running farther inland. Did Ankh have a plan?

                The heel on her last sandal couldn't take another rocky step and broke, and she gasped in shock. Ankh turned her way, then pushed her back down into a large flowering bush. Laying almost on top of her, he held her still as streams of water washed through, trying to flush out anyone who might be fleeing or hiding among the plants. Hina held her breath and counted the heartbeats until the waters passed: one, two, three, four, five, six...

                It stopped, and she tried to rise, but Ankh held her in place. She tried to struggle, but he held her hands still and shook his head gently while staring out past the leaves and blossoms. Hina followed his gaze and had to remind herself that she couldn't afford to gasp.

                Mezool was directly in front of them, searching, and even if Hina couldn't make a sound, any wrong breath would draw her attention, and they would be done for.

 

~~~

 

                Eiji wasn't sure when he fell asleep, but he certainly knew when he woke up. A sudden sensation flashed through his Medals like an urgent warning, and he snapped awake, carefully standing up on the twirling ride.

                "What is it?" Hina asked cautiously.

                "Mezool," he explained. "She's close. But I don't know..."

                He couldn't seem to pinpoint her. She was definitely nearby—close enough that the Medals were _hurting_ him, but the only person near enough to him was Hina...

                She shrieked suddenly, and he felt a blast of cold water throw him off the carousel platform and straight into the center, hitting his head on the wall. Wincing from pain, he turned to see Mezool hovering on a stream of water above him, ready to attack again.

                He froze, unsure how he was supposed to defend himself, especially with Hina in harm's way. But before the next stream could hit him, the carousel came back around again, and Hina reached out and grabbed his arm, hauling him back onto the spinning platform.

                "Hurry!" she insisted, pulling him toward the outer edge.

                They slid off the carousel and ran toward the jellyfish exhibit. Eiji was breathing heavily, worn out from his injuries and exertion, but Hina clapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him off to a corner of the room, behind one of the tanks.

                Mezool walked in seconds later. She made her way past the tanks, watching for their reflections in the mirrored ceiling. The overhead lights began to dim, with a neon blue glow emanating from the tanks. Mezool paused, disoriented by the darkness, and Hina used that moment to drag Eiji through the maze of floating medusae to an escalator before the lights could brighten again.

                It was only after they had gone upstairs and passed a wall of tropical fish to take refuge in an tunnel of sharks and rays that Hina let go of Eiji and let him sit and breathe.

                "That should be far enough away," she said.

                Eiji nodded as he tried to catch his breath, even though he could still pick up enough traces of Mezool's presence that he couldn't manage to relax.

                He felt his forehead, right at the spot where he'd hit it against the carousel, just on the edge of his temple. It was bleeding, and much more than he'd expected.

                "Is it bad?"

                He looked up. Hina was already beginning to lift the hem of her skirt to wipe the blood away. He couldn't let her damage the dress, not after everything she'd been through.

                "No, it's okay," he insisted, gingerly rising to his feet. "It'll stop bleeding soon."

                He couldn't quite figure out the expression on her face—she seemed concerned, but also oddly like she wasn't used to expressing it. Was it a side-effect of the Yummy? He had to redirect her thoughts.

                "Besides," he added, managing a grin. "That dress really does look good on you. I don't want to ruin it."

                There was a glimmer in her eyes suddenly and she stepped closer, and he felt his breath catch. Something crossed her face—not a smirk, not quite, but a slight twist to her lip that didn't seem quite right.

                Her arms wrapped around him, and all of the breath went out of him. It wasn't his injuries; for some reason he couldn't figure out, his chest felt tight, tight enough that he couldn't feel the Medals, just the pounding of his heart as warm blood flushed into his body.

                Part of him wanted Hina to let go, just to stop the weirdly uncomfortable feeling going through him. But a more significant part wanted to remain like that forever, enjoying every moment of it.

                When she finally pulled herself back, she looked at him like she was searching for something, but he couldn't begin to guess what. She slid her hands down his arm until she held his hand again. He watched the movement, again unsure how comfortable he was with the sensation. Why was she doing this?

                "Are you...okay?" he choked out.

                She nodded, insisting, "Everything's perfect," before drawing herself in close again, cuddled against his body. Eiji felt his heart hammer inside his chest and could not, for the life of him, understand why.

 

~~~

 

                It was loud.

                The humans were loud, with their guns and bombs and shouts. It was too loud to think, but Ankh didn't need to think.

                _He_ was here. _He_ was just beyond those humans. That was why they were fighting so hard.

                He did not need to worry about the humans' distractions as he blasted fire at them, lighting up the dark corridor and filling the already loud air with screams. He beat them down, blasted them, stepped over the spent husks of the Cell Medals that they stripped down in their weapons, coming ever closer to his goal.

                " _I'm_ here," he whispered as he approached the room where he sensed _him_.

                He could hear Kazari fighting Birth behind him. It was not the Birth he was used to; this one's desire was focused completely on keeping him from going through that door. But Kazari told him not to worry about it, so he would not. Kazari was more than strong enough to defeat a fake Birth.

                He blasted down the door, ignoring the scream of "No!" from Birth as he walked inside.

 

~~~

 

                Mezool was right in front of them, and Hina squeezed her eyes tight, desperately trying to will some control over this dream so that Mezool didn't find them.

                Mezool stumbled for a moment, and Hina opened her eyes in surprise. But no, it hadn't been her actions—Mezool's own shoes had gotten stuck in the mud, and she was disgustedly trying to pull herself free. For a horrifying moment, Hina was afraid that she was going to reach down and unbuckle her shoes to take them off, but no, she merely slipped them off and trudged back toward the town barefoot.

                When she could no longer hear Mezool, Hina tried to sit up again, this time finding that Ankh wasn't trying to stop her. She looked up to see him exhausted, his face scrunched up in pain.

                Alarmed, she pulled herself out from underneath him and turned him over, only for him to groan. She paused, afraid that maybe Mezool might have heard, but Ankh noticed her hesitation and muttered, "Don't bother," as he started sitting up.

                Hina started to try to ease him back down again, but he was intent on sitting. He didn't look much better either way, but he ignored her worried expression and insisted, "Mezool already got what she wants. She doesn't need to come after us."

                Hina nodded sadly and pulled her knees up to her chest. This had never been about her; it was always Mezool. And now everyone else had to pay for it.

                Ankh watched her with what looked like concern, finally saying, "She took more than your strength, didn't she? That's why you haven't said anything."

                She nodded, feeling tears sliding down her cheeks. As she wiped them away, Ankh said, "Well, at least you're going to get one thing you want out of this."

                She glanced over at him. What? What kind of wish was someone as cruel as Mezool giving her?

                But the look on Ankh's face was cynical, and she knew before he started talking that the answer was "You'll get rid of me, finally."

                Her heart took a plunge. Somehow, she remembered to breathe as she stared at him and heard him explain, "That fake me is calling to me, and Mezool's already got Eiji. It's only a matter of time, now."

                Hina shook her head. No, this couldn't be happening. He couldn't disappear. He couldn't...die, or become part of that other Greeed.

                This wasn't what she wanted, but there was no way for Ankh to understand. He still thought she wanted him gone, but she knew now, more than ever, that she'd _had_ to tell him to stay. Even if she couldn't explain to herself why, this was what she'd wanted. And maybe there was only one way to make him see that.

                It happened all at once.

                It was impulsive, but it was right. Hina leaned over toward Ankh and kissed him, and she could feel the fire burning inside her.

                In the aquarium tunnel, Hina suddenly pulled away from Eiji. Finally given a chance to breathe, he asked, "Is something wrong?"

                She rose to her tiptoes and closed her eyes. He didn't realize he was being kissed until he felt her lips and a burning sensation in his chest, and suddenly it didn't matter anymore.

                And at the Kougami Foundation, one Ankh stood over another and raised his empty right hand.

                "I'm here," he said. "Come home, _me._ "


	8. You've Got To Pay The Toll

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mezool shows her hand, and now it's a desperate race to save Eiji from the Greeed while Hina tries to take back control of herself.

                Warmth spread throughout Eiji's body as Hina kissed him, and for a breathless moment, he couldn't feel anything else. His pain was gone, and the Medals might as well have been too. His shock began to give way to bliss, and he realized that he could do this forever.

                Suddenly, he felt what seemed like a heavy rock being thrown at his stomach with full force. The air was forced from his lungs as he crumpled forward and fell to his knees. It took a moment for him to realize what had happened, and he looked up at Hina in horror.

                "Why?" he gasped out.

                There was a smirk on her face as her eyes flashed blue. Eiji still couldn't make sense of it, even as Mezool walked up from behind him, without him ever sensing her presence.

                "You're working together?" he asked in disbelief.

                Hina let out a short laugh. "Poor OOO boy. You never suspected a thing, did you?"

                She held up a hand, flicking her wrist in just the right way to remind him of Ankh again, and he suddenly understood why. Mezool broke down into her component Medals and flew toward Hina, absorbing into her body as she tilted her head back contentedly.

                "You're controlling her," he realized.

                She reached down to cup his face again, this time slapping him hard, with all of Hina's strength. He toppled over, hitting the floor hard, his mind racing. That was why he'd always had the vague sense of Mezool around—her Medals had been inside Hina.

                A blast of water pushed him against the glass aquarium wall. Eiji closed his eyes, trying to summon power from his own Medals to defend himself, but he still couldn't feel them.

                "What's going on?" he whispered in shock. "Why can't I..."

                Mezool laughed, and the cruelty in Hina's voice was colder than PuToTyra's ice. He stared at her warily, trying carefully to get himself into a more defensive position.

                "It's amazing how clueless you are. You really think that you're immune to all desires?"

                She came closer, and he pressed himself against the wall, feeling his heart pound as she brought her face close to his, close enough that if she wanted to, she could kiss him again—and _why_ was he even thinking that? As if she could read his mind, she laughed.

                "Love is a desire too," she said. "A desire for physical pleasure, emotional pleasure, comfort—the one thing that you still seem to want."

                Her slap was gentler this time—just enough that his head was pushed to the side and he felt the sting against his bruised cheek.

                His breath was shaky and his heart continued to pound. Everything hurt, and with a wavering voice, he asked, "So the Medals..."

                "Have a desire fighting them off," she said. "I wonder how long it'll take before they're out of your body completely. What will I have to do to get you to that point? Or am I just going to be able to kill you before then?"

                This time, Eiji was ready for her attack, pushing her away and causing her water stream to go off track, back into the hall. It bought him enough time to get to his feet and hurry down the end of the tunnel toward the wildlife enclosure, where hopefully this time, he'd be safe.

 

~~~

 

                The bubble-enclosed body began to glow, a soft, hazy rainbow overtaking it. Lost Ankh called to the remaining Medals, feeling the lack of resistance from his other self, a wonderful sensation of slowly becoming whole...

                A blast of fire broke the connection, throwing him back against the wall. As he recovered, he glanced up to see the impossible—his human hybrid doppelganger, sitting up, holding out his hand, and glaring furiously.

                "No," he denied. "How?"

                Ankh didn't bother to answer, instead throwing another fireball at him. But his awakening had also taken Kazari by surprise, and he paused long enough in pummeling Shoko that she was able to push him off and back away.

                "How did you wake up?" he demanded. "That's supposed to be impossible!"

                "Hmph," Ankh scoffed, though in truth, he didn't quite know himself. Hina's kiss had opened a door, somehow. He'd felt a hungry desire, different from the one at the core of his being as a Greeed, but just as ravenous. And then when it had had its fill, he was awake, dragging his still half-comatose human body along with him.

                But that wasn't what was important. No, what he had to focus on was his imposter in front of him, with Kazari not far behind. While he doubted he could fare long against Kazari, he knew he couldn't survive long against Lost Ankh. The closer he was, the more likely he would be absorbed and assimilated.

                But he had one thing to count on—this thoroughly unfamiliar Birth, who had at least held her own against Kazari for some time. He glanced in her direction and said, "So. Trade?"

                Shoko wasted no time tearing past Kazari, while Ankh twisted past his imposter to take her place. The fight wasn't necessarily easier, but Lost Ankh was too enraged to think clearly, trying desperately to get back to Ankh. It forced him into close combat, where he didn't have enough room to hurl fire, nor the skill with brawling that the original Ankh had. He took a wild swing at her, misjudging his distance from her Crane Arm. She countered easily, then drove the drill end into his shoulder as he screamed, "Why?"

                On his end, Ankh spent most of his time dodging Kazari's mane, rather than risking an actual fight against a Greeed with far more Medals than he had.

                "What's wrong, Ankh?" Kazari taunted. "Afraid to fight me?"

                It was a stupid attempt to bait him, probably the dumbest he'd ever heard. Instead, he rebutted, "I should ask you what's wrong. Doesn't seem like you're quite at full power."

                Kazari drew back a little bit, his ego bruised, but he quickly recovered his composure and shot a gust of wind, slamming Ankh against a wall.

                "Your new friend over there managed to grab one of my Cores," he admitted. "But don't think that I need all nine to finish you off. I've still got Uva and Gamel's for that."

                Perfect. As always, Kazari could be goaded into telling Ankh everything he needed to know.

                He shot another fireball at Kazari, then leapt into the elevator shaft, confident that his opponent would follow.

 

~~~

 

                Hina stumbled down the rest of the hillside, making her way back to the beach, tears streaming down her face. Ankh was gone. One minute, she had been kissing him, and the next, he'd faded into red embers. She was alone again—abandoned, even though she knew the accusation wasn't fair. But it also wasn't fair that everything awful kept happening to her, and she was powerless to stop it.

                Somehow or another, she made it down to the beach, her one bare foot cut up while the remains of her broken sandal were just barely strapped to her ankle. She barely noticed Date flying overhead, asking, "Whoa, Princess, is that you?"

                Satonaka sat up from where she was sunbathing and stared at her feet for a moment before turning to see if Ankh was behind her. But of course not, and Hina just splashed her way through the water, hoping that just maybe, the spell would break and she could return to the sea.

                "What happened to you?" she asked cautiously. "And where's Ankh?"

                "Forget that," Date warned. "Why's there suddenly two of her?"

                Hina turned in alarm only to see Mezool in her dark gown approaching the shoreline. With a sly smile, she beckoned toward Hina, and the tide surged, carrying her toward land. At once, Date and Satonaka realized they had to intervene, but Mezool flicked her hand, generating a stream of water that sent them hurtling across the beach. Hina tried to break free of the water so she could run over to them, but the wave held her still before dumping her onto the sand at Mezool's feet.

                "Poor little princess," Mezool cooed. "One prince gone, one trapped on the other side, and no one left to rescue you."

                Hina shrank back in fear. Mezool was right. Nobody could save her from this nightmare, nor would they. She'd gotten herself into this mess by trusting Mezool.

                Satonaka saw the way Hina was beginning to withdraw into herself, and she elbowed Date to get off of her.

                "Go help her," she warned.

                "Huh?" he asked, glancing over at Hina and Mezool. "Well, can't say I really know what's going on, but okay."

                He took flight, keeping low and aiming for Mezool. She saw his attack and sent another stream of water his way, but he rose, circling around until he was coming down from above. Mezool curved her stream to cover her head, and Date changed his trajectory so he could swoop down and pick Hina back up, moving her away from Mezool.

                "Not saying I want to have to move us to another island or anything, but why don't you use that flood thing you did before on Princey?" he suggested.

                Hina shook her head. Date blinked in surprise and asked, "Why not?"

                "Because I'm the one in control here," Mezool explained, letting her eyes flash blue. "Like most Greeed, my personality is split up among my Cores. You, little mermaid, have three of my Cores and enough Cell Medals to create a secondary body. I've always been able to take control. It's just that now, you've given it to me willingly."

                Hina's face flushed with anger and shame. Ankh had only tried to warn her. If she'd listened to him from the start, she might have been able to save him.

                She rose to her feet, even as Mezool asked, "And what are you going to do? Your strength is gone. You don't even have a voice. You don't stand a chance."

                Hina pushed those doubts out of her head and ran at her.

 

~~~

 

                As the original bird Greeed, Ankh knew how to successfully land from a great height in human form, even when his landing point was the smashed remnants of an elevator. He paused just long enough to be sure that Kazari was chasing him, then followed the hole in the doors out to the ground floor, where Gamel was stumbling around, looking less coordinated than usual.

                "Yummy broke..." Gamel mumbled, trying to walk straight. "Head hurts."

                "Gamel," Ankh called out.

                Gamel stopped and turned around, staring at him in confusion. "Ankh. You're not little anymore?"

                Ankh snorted. Dumb as ever, and hopefully that was going to work in his favor, now that Kazari had arrived.

                "So much for your great escape, Ankh," Kazari said. "Now you've got the both of us to deal with. Right, Gamel?"

                Gamel, by now, had pieced together which Ankh this was and nodded. "Yeah!"

                Ankh ignored his threat, turning directly to Gamel and asking, "So. How many Medals do you have?"

                Caught off-guard by the unexpected question ( _And probably struggling_ _to count_ , Ankh thought), Gamel paused for a while. Suspicious, Kazari asked, "Just what's your aim?"

                "Just wondering what happened to all the Medals you took from us," Ankh answered. "It doesn't look like you decided to share."

                "Six!" Gamel finally proclaimed, just as he heard Ankh's last comment. "What?"

                Now, the tables had turned. Gamel looked toward Kazari, who quickly insisted, "You can't possibly think you can trust Ankh, can you?"

                "Uh..." Gamel mumbled, looking back at Ankh.

                "Does it look like I have them?" Ankh retorted, giving him a pointed glare. "If I did, Eiji would have beaten you already."

                It was easy logic and that made up Gamel's mind. Roaring in anger, he charged at Kazari, trying to ram his head into his body. Kazari hurried to create a whirlwind to slow him down, but the blow still connected, forcing him back a few steps.

                Deciding to try to talk his way out of it, he said, "Now, Gamel, maybe I should have been more forthcoming with you all..."

                But Gamel wasn't about to be placated, yelling, "Give me my Medals!"

                Ankh smirked. It was working out perfectly. But a horrible sensation soon spread throughout his three Cores—his doppelganger was approaching, flying down that same elevator shaft.

                At first, Lost Ankh's attention was on Ankh, but he soon had to dodge a potted plant that Gamel threw toward Kazari. He glared Gamel's way, and to his credit, Gamel realized the mistake he'd made and began backing away. But Lost Ankh blasted fire at him and flew at him, ready to unleash every frustration he'd had with him since they first met.

                "Well, that's convenient," Kazari remarked as he stepped forward again, looking for Ankh. Instead, however, he saw an unconscious human lying on the floor where he'd last been. "What?"

                "Now!" Ankh shouted from somewhere behind him.

                Something hit Kazari from behind—an annoying sting that he soon realized was Birth's Drill Arm, peeling away layers of his Cell Medals and exposing several Core Medals. Ankh dove in, grabbing anything that was out of place—Uva's Medal, Gamel's Medals—temporarily incorporating them while trying to grab anything else from Kazari.

                "Ankh?" Kazari called out.

                Lost Ankh had displayed his wing and was using it to throw fireballs at a cowering Gamel. But as soon as he heard Kazari's call for help, he turned away, sending his last blast toward Ankh. Ankh had to give up his attack, grabbing only a Tora Medal from Kazari before retreating behind Shoko.

                "What do I do now?" she asked frantically.

                "Just keep adding Medals," he warned. "Fire everything you have!"

                "Okay," she agreed, cramming her stolen Cell Medals into the driver and repeatedly twisting the dial. She managed to activate all of the weapons, finally figuring out the Breast Cannon and firing it. But she was completely unprepared for the recoil—she missed the Greeed, getting thrown back and accidentally hitting the ceiling.

                Ankh had to hurry back to Shingo's body and back away as parts of the ceiling began to crumble and collapse, screaming, "Watch it!" at Shoko.

                As Shoko struggled to regain control over her attack, Ankh felt a candroid land on his shoulder. Expectedly, he heard Kougami cry out, "Good morning! Glad to see you're awake!"

                The loud shout got Lost Ankh's attention, and he started reaching for Ankh, only for Shoko to blast him from the side.

                "You better have something important to say," Ankh growled.

                "I do," Kougami replied. "Good to see that Ms. Sugiura's figured out the Birth Day mode. That should buy you time to escape and find Hino."

                That news was worth the near-absorption, and Ankh demanded, "Where is he?"

                "Follow the candroid," Kougami advised, and Ankh caught sight of the hawk flying toward the exit. "It's already found their hideout, so Hino is probably there."

                That made sense, and Ankh yelled back to Shoko, "Wrap it up!"

                "All right," she answered, loading another Medal into the driver and sending another blast toward the Greeed.

                "Time to go," Kazari decided, slipping a cyclone under her attack. It threw her off again, and this time, she blasted a hole through the walls. Lost Ankh followed his lead and unleashed another volley of fire from his wing at her, keeping her too preoccupied with shielding herself to stop them from escaping through the hole.

                She finally had to remove the driver in order to move anymore, dropping to her knees in exhaustion. Ankh wasn't about to give her the chance to breathe—she was too useful right now, and Eiji would need the extra help. He walked over and roughly grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet.

                "Come on," he warned. "We need to get to Eiji before they do."

                She nodded, though dazed, and handed over the Core Medal she'd grabbed before, along with the OOO driver. "You need these, right?"

                Ankh snatched them out of her hands immediately. The Medal was Cheetah, nearly completing the set of Medals that had been stolen from them, though it hadn't added anything else to their collection. Still, at this point, he would take what he could get, including a thoroughly untrained Birth.

                He was, however, a little confused when she slipped off the blazer she was wearing and handed it to him as well. When he raised an eyebrow, she said, "It's waterproof. I don't really need it right now, underneath that armor, but if we run into those bubbles again..."

                There was blood all over the interior—blood that didn't show up on Shoko's clothing. Ankh felt a sense of dread as he took the coat, but he wasn't going to waste any more time. Not when he was sure, especially now more than ever, Eiji needed him.

                "Let's go," he insisted, and she nodded, taking off after him.

 

~~~

 

                The wildlife enclosure felt uncomfortably exposed. Eiji limped through the exhibit, keenly aware that he was the only human there, and that nothing could camouflage him.

                He finally came across a door that led to the outside, with fewer bubbles in the way. His heart leapt as he carefully stepped over the encased bodies, trying his best to avoid touching any of the foam. It did, indeed, lead him to an outdoor exhibit, where animal trainers and visitors alike had been put to sleep.

                Eiji made his way over to the fence and looked down. He could, possibly, escape this way—but only if the Medals in his body would start working again.

                His legs gave out and he fell, shaking and clutching his chest. It was hopeless. Even if he could survive the fall and get away, he was too injured to avoid Mezool. And for that matter, he'd be leaving Hina in her clutches again, with no way to fight Mezool without the Medals deactivating. He was out of options.

                A trickle of water touched his feet, and he jumped, but not in time to avoid the spiraling stream that wound around his ankles, dragging him back toward the door. He scraped his fingers across the floor, trying to grab hold of something to stop him from being pulled back in, but he only made contact with more bubbles, flashing dream images into his head—a magnificent fountain with a toppled angel statue in the center, making room for a throne on which Mezool sat, looming over him.

                The dream only let go of him because Mezool was pulling him through the open door, into a flood of water. He gasped for air as he woke, his head foggier than it had been the last few times, and it was the only air he was allowed as the waters completely surrounded him, compressing around him.

                He fought to keep his breath in his chest, wondering once again how his predecessor defeated them. He was losing consciousness, his vision going spotty. He thought for a moment that he saw Hina's face in the water...

                He did. The pressure let up, and the water retreated from his face, letting him breathe as a completely liquid Mezool, still wearing Hina's face, wrapped herself around his body.

                "There, that's it," she said, pressing her head against his. "There's that beautiful weakness all you humans share—that love! I want to feel more of it!"

                She became solid again, pressing her lips against his as she sat on top of him, and he squeezed his eyes tight, desperately reminding himself, _It's not her. It's not Hina. This isn't her._

But it didn't matter how much he thought it. He couldn't seem to completely believe himself. The Medals remained dormant, and heat rose inside his body again.

                Water suddenly rushed into his mouth, forcing itself past his throat—she was drowning him, all while his Medals remained silent and cooperative. Had she decided he was more trouble than he was worth? Or was this the inevitable result of a Greeed trying to take what they wanted—a desire so impossible to satisfy that it would destroy without conscience?

                He had to do something. He had to suppress this feeling—somehow ignore his own heart and put himself in the place of the cruel and greedy King who had once sealed the Greeed.

                He reached up, at Mezool's abdomen. Closing his eyes and ignoring his heart, he pushed his hand through.

                He heard a gasp as he grabbed onto one of her Medals. She let go of him, and he turned away, choking and vomiting up the water. It was only after he managed to get some breath into him that he opened his eyes to see Hina's horrified face across from him, pain in her eyes.

                Eiji lost his grip on the Core Medal. What had he done? Mezool or not, he had hurt _Hina_ as well. Was that the heartlessness it had taken for the old OOO? Was that the monster he could become, Medals or not?

                "Mezool!"

                The other Greeed had arrived, entering through the same exhibit he'd tried to escape. But Eiji was too shaken up to process it, or to realize that he needed to move, now, before Gamel ran over and kicked him in the side, sending him flying into the sea otter exhibit, crashing right through the glass.

                The Medal flew out of his hands, rolling toward Kazari, who quickly stepped on it and absorbed it before the others could take notice. Not that his caution mattered—Lost Ankh didn't care, and Gamel  was too concerned with Mezool, grabbing her by the shoulders.

                "Mezool! Mezool, are you okay? Say something!"

                When she failed to, glancing back at Eiji in shock, Gamel let go, turning toward him with rage.

                "OOO hurt Mezool," he growled. "You're going to pay!"

                "I think that's the smartest thing you've said all day," Kazari agreed.

                The air underneath Eiji stirred and suddenly gusted, slamming him into the wall. Another sharp, blinding pain tore through his body from the trauma, and he struggled to breathe. Gamel charged over again, but he had enough sense to curl up into a ball, covering his head and neck as the Greeed pounded on him with bone-breaking force. But it only meant Gamel had an easier time picking him up and throwing him across the room. He couldn't keep himself from crying out in pain, even as Lost Ankh approached him, his one wing ablaze.

                Ankh and Shoko had fought their way past the bubbles blocking the entrance, Ankh holding the coat in front of him as a shield while Shoko transformed again into Birth and blasted a hole through the middle of the foam. Their path made, they ran in, looking around the carousel area.

                "I don't see anyone," Shoko said, sidestepping some bubbles. "Hino?"

                The sensation of many Core Medals suddenly came across Ankh, and he stopped for a moment, nearly dizzy from the pressure. Upstairs. He raced up the escalator, trusting Shoko to keep up with him, following his sense for the Cores through the maze of attractions.

                "Is it Hino?" Shoko asked as they stood between a museum and a jungle exhibit.

                A scream cut through the silence, and they knew exactly who it was. Racing past the jungle into the wildlife area, they saw Eiji lying in a crumpled heap, Lost Ankh walking over to finish him off.

                Shoko prepared the Breast Cannon again, but Ankh wasn't about to wait for it to power up. His imposter had unfurled his wing to launch fire at Eiji. Ankh ran forward, his Greeed arm displayed. As the flames started to fly, he grabbed the other Greeed's wing with his right arm and spun him around, shoving his left fist into Lost Ankh's face.

                Eiji looked up in shock, just barely breathing out, "Ankh?"

                He looked terrible. The entire left side of his face was bruising and swelling, and blood was still trickling from a cut on his head. He was soaked, and his breathing was uneven—he was obviously in a lot of pain. The Greeed had almost killed him.

                "Get out of here!" Ankh shouted at him. "Run!"

                Eiji managed a nod and pulled himself up enough to crawl out of the exhibit. Ahead was the dolphin stadium. It would undoubtedly be full of bubbles, but maybe it would have another exit or at least somewhere he could hide. It was all he could hope for.

                He pulled himself inside, looking at the seats. Most were, indeed, filled with the foam-covered bodies of visitors who had been trapped in Hina's dream. But if he could just edge his way past them, there was a clear spot in the middle where he could curl up and hide.

                He braced himself against one of the chairs and carefully tried to stand, but all at once, he felt tremendous pressure settle onto his body, pushing his arms and legs back down. The water that had drenched his body was being manipulated, his soaked clothes and hair pushing him back down to the floor. It wasn't enough pressure to crush him, but it was more than enough to paralyze him.

                His breath came in and out in rapid, shallow gasps as he felt himself being dragged again, toward a furious Mezool. His body rose against his will, and her hand clamped onto his neck, lifting him the rest of the way.

                Eiji closed his eyes tight as his airway closed. If his stupid Medals' shutdown meant that he really was in love with Hina, then he didn't want to see her be the one to kill him.

 

~~~

 

                A stream of water whipped at Hina, trying to prevent her next attack on Mezool. It knocked Hina off her feet, sending her flying back.

                "Just give up," Mezool insisted. "I promise I'll be lenient—I only want your desire. I'll even let you have your fairytale back."

                Hina faltered for a moment—long enough for Mezool to send another water whip. This time, however, Date dove at Mezool, kicking at her head with webbed feet. She lost control of the water, and it harmlessly splashed to the ground.

                Mezool shouted in frustration and aimed a burst of water at Date, throwing him to the ground again. Hina took off running toward him, desperate to be sure he was okay.

                "You always need someone to save you, don't you?" Mezool asked. "And what does it get you in the end? You lose everyone. You break everything you touch."

                Hina closed her eyes, feeling the tears spill over. Her brother, Eiji, Ankh—how many more was she going to have to lose? They'd given everything to try to keep her safe, and she couldn't even find a safe place for them in her dreamland.

                "Don't worry about me, Princess," Date croaked. Hina opened her eyes to see him awake and alert, though clearly injured. "This is nothing. Don't let that witch tell you different."

                Hina took a few deep breaths, clenching her fists. Mezool watched and laughed.

                "You're really going to try to fight me on your own?" she demanded. "A weak, voiceless human against a fully revived Greeed?"

                Hina leapt to her feet, spinning around to charge. Mezool flicked another stream of water at her, but she was ready this time, ducking underneath it and crossing her arms to hit Mezool low, in her stomach. She staggered backwards, the wind knocked out of her.

                With Mezool off-balance, Hina grabbed her from the front, locking her arms around the other girl, pinning her upper arms to her sides. Mezool fought to free herself, but she couldn't use her arm strength if she couldn't move her arms.

                She could almost hear Hina grunting, straining to keep her pinned. A faint blue light was forming at Mezool's throat, and mist was escaping her mouth.

                "You can't," she insisted, realizing what was happening. "You're not strong enough!"

                The mist gave way to a sparkling blue bubble, floating over to Hina's neck and popping, settling back into her body. There was a note of relief in Hina's gasp as her voice returned to her, and she let go, giving Mezool a chance to back away.

                "What are you doing?" Mezool demanded, her own voice back to normal.

                "I'm taking it back," Hina replied, walking up to Mezool and grabbing her by the shoulders.

                Her strength was back as well—Mezool could feel Hina squeezing her, hard enough that she found herself breathless.

                "Maybe I did want to escape," Hina admitted. "Maybe I did want to dream of a better life—is that so wrong?"

                Mezool summoned water to break herself free, whipping it back at Hina. But Hina grabbed hold of it and lashed it right back at her.

                "Impossible," Mezool gasped.

                Hina shook her head. "I told you, I'm taking it back. You ruined this for me. You made me trust you, and you betrayed me. You hurt the people I love—people I only wanted to see safe and happy. What do you have against that?"

                The tides rose behind her—Mezool's last effort to stop her. Hina saw it and trust her arm out, calling the water forth in a single stream, blasting Mezool into a palm tree.

                "Why is it so wrong to be happy?" Hina cried. "Why does that make me greedy?"

                But Mezool could no longer answer. As the waters receded, she fell to the sand, staring up at Hina as she dissipated into twinkling blue lights.

                "All right, Princess!" Date cheered. "You did it!"

                He flew over, carrying Satonaka, who asked, "So is everyone going to start waking up?"

                Hina hesitated. Did she want to wake up? This dream had become such a thorough nightmare, but was she ready to throw it away and return to the real world? What would be waiting there for her?

                She suddenly realized her arm was reaching up, holding something in a tight grip. Confused, she loosened her fingers, only to feel whatever it was drop. And now that she had, she could see that it was Eiji, unconscious and bleeding on her foot.

                At once, her feet became fins, and bright blue scales spread up her tail and sides, silver seashells forming over her breasts while pale blue, dolphin-like skin covered her torso and arms. She fell to a kneeling position beside the unconscious boy and carefully lifted his head, listening for his breathing.

                "Eiji?" she whispered.

                He was still alive, and she could see now that they were in a stadium with a dolphin tank located in the center. She called the water over to embrace him and carried him into the pool, waiting for him to wake.

 

~~~

 

                The fact that Eiji couldn't run was worrying, but right now, not nearly as worrying as the fact that Ankh was well within Lost Ankh's absorption range. Lost Ankh grabbed him by his human left wrist, calling to his Medals. Ankh felt the unsettling resonation, his thoughts losing form, and then...

                "Move!"

                Shoko's yell came just in time, and Ankh twisted out of the way of a powerful Cell Burst that ripped Lost Ankh away from him, blasting him into the wall.

                Ankh took a moment to glance back her way, unsure how impressed he was with her quick action and adaption to the Birth system, or how unnerved he was by how destructive she'd managed to be with it so far. But the moment gave him a quick sweep of all of the enemies coming their way—Gamel, charging at Shoko; Kazari, taking a swing Ankh's way; and of course, Lost Ankh, now recovering and flying at him.

                "Where's Mezool?" he growled, just barely managing to dodge Kazari's attack.

                "Maybe you should worry a little more about where _you_ are, instead of where anyone else is," Kazari mocked, making an opening for Lost Ankh to attack from above.

                Ankh threw fire at Kazari before tumbling away from Lost Ankh. Eiji was also gone—hopefully somewhere safe, but he couldn't count on it.

                Shoko was still struggling against Gamel, so Ankh shouted, "Forget him! We need to get to Eiji!"

                "Right," she agreed, just managing to blast Gamel off of her, then backing up toward Ankh. "I guess I'll cover you?"

                Ankh had to admit he liked how quick she was to follow orders. Still, she was completely outclassed—they'd have to somehow get past all of these Greeed, then manage to hold them off while he grabbed Eiji, and still figure out an escape route from there.

                One thing at a time, and he blocked a fireball with his arm, leaving it to Shoko to counterattack his imposter. They just needed to find an opening, then he could figure out the rest.

 

~~~

 

                Water splashed against Eiji's cheeks. He opened his eyes to see a twirling carousel of water and light overhead and bubbles all around him.

                He closed his eyes and opened them again, and this time he was in the open ocean, with no one around him for miles. His body ached, and he began to sink. He had just enough awareness to hold his breath before his head went under the water.

                He wasn't sure where he was anymore. Sometimes, it looked like the empty sea, and sometimes, it was a tank filled with bubbles. Large shapes were circling around, and he wasn't sure if they were dolphins or sharks.

                Another shape swam up, and he held completely still, even as the mermaid's form became obvious. She reached out toward him, and he felt himself shying away, afraid to let her touch him.

                "Don't be afraid, Eiji," she said. "It's me."

                Hina. It had to be her—Mezool would never call him by name. But he couldn't seem to make his arms and legs move over to her—everything was heavy and painful.

                "You're hurt," she noticed. "I can heal you."

                _How?_ he wondered.

                He felt her tailfin swish past his feet. Why wasn't he wearing shoes again? It was too hard to remember. Even as she drew herself closer to him, and her tail flicked back and forth against the inside of his legs, he couldn't remember or understand why he thought he'd feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. It just felt so nice, her close to him, gently holding his hurt arms.

                "Stay here," she pleaded. "If you stay in this dream, I can heal you. I have Mezool's Medals—it'll be just like with Ankh and Big Brother. You can have a life without pain, where everything will be perfect. I can save you."

                What did he need saving from? His mind was going dark. He couldn't think.

                He was sinking more into her embrace. She was close enough now that he could clearly see her face. She had a serene smile, one that made him feel warm inside.

                "I have to admit," she said. "I've thought about doing this with you for a while."

                _Doing what?_ he wondered before she brought her lips to his and kissed him.

                It was between that heartbeat and the next that Ankh and Shoko finally broke the Greeed's line, making their way into the dolphinarium. There was no missing what was going on in the tank in front of them, and they watched on in shock.

                "Hina?" Shoko asked in disbelief.

                For Ankh, the shock left him with a vague sense of betrayal aimed at both Hina and Eiji, and yet he couldn't look away, even as Shoko turned and opened fire on the Greeed trying to pursue them. He watched Hina pull away from Eiji, brushing a lock of hair away from his face. But a puzzled look crossed her face as a soft, purple glow formed over his chest, and something dropped to the bottom of the tank as his body somehow seemed to go dark.

                "Eiji!" Ankh screamed before he even understood what he was seeing. He leapt over the seats, landing beside the tank, watching Eiji float limply in the water, failing to respond as he banged on the glass. "Eiji!"

                "Eiji?" Hina asked, her confusion giving way to fear. "Eiji, what's wrong?"

                He wasn't answering. He couldn't. Not if he wasn't breathing, not if he was—Ankh couldn't even finish the thought. There was no point in yelling at Eiji; he wasn't going to wake up. But there was still someone else who could help.

                "Hina!" he shouted then.

                She stopped, looking over at him, her eyes meeting his. This was the first time since she'd begun dreaming that she'd heard anyone call her by name, but it was even more significant than that. In all the time she'd known Ankh, he'd never once used her name—never in passing, never to call out to her. The only name he'd ever cried out like that, with all of that urgency, was Eiji's.

                A thousand emotions burned through Ankh—fury, pain, sorrow, and he yelled out, "Is this what you want? You just _killed_ Eiji!"

                Hina backed away, looking back at Eiji in fear. But he didn't move.

                "Are you happy now?" Ankh continued. "He wasted all of that time, all of his _life_ trying to save you! But all you wanted to do was hide away in a fantasy, where you wouldn't have to deal with your life!"

                She clutched her head as the words brought on a surge of pain. Her control over the Medals was slipping, and she could feel Mezool laughing inside of her, trying to break free.

                But Ankh wasn't done yet. With a last burst of agonized rage, he shouted, "He threw a damn _party_ for you because he wanted to comfort you over losing that job in France! He was trying to make you _happy_ , but that's not what you really wanted, was it? If a desire like that falls apart so easily, maybe it's not really a dream. But if it's something you want bad enough, then you can't just run away—you have to make it happen yourself!"

                Hina screamed, and a green betta fish Yummy burst from her body. It swam directly at Eiji, ready to slam into his body, but she regained enough control over her senses to thrust out her arm, forming a water bubble around his body and raising it out of the tank, down to Ankh. But the concentration cost her—the Yummy turned its attention to her instead, ramming her into the floor and digging a clawed and webbed hand into her chest, trying to pull out the Core Medals.

                "Hina!" Ankh yelled again, but she brought her own hand to her chest, forcing three of the Medals to remain in her body. The last six were absorbed into the Yummy, which re-formed itself into Mezool's shape.

                "Just as clever as you are beautiful," Mezool said, bringing a fist down on Hina. "Shame I'll have to break that pretty face."

                She winced in pain but grabbed Mezool's wrist and threw her aside, buying herself enough time to swim to the surface, just barely holding onto her own Greeed form. She saw Ankh looking up at her in concern, but she yelled down, "Don't worry about me! Just save Eiji!" before Mezool hit her again.

                Ankh looked down at Eiji, at a loss for what to do. He could tell just by holding him that his heart wasn't beating, and he wasn't just going to start living again just because Ankh wanted him to.

                A memory pushed its way into his mind's eye—a CPR course that Shingo had had to take, years ago. Ankh wasn't sure if it meant the detective he was borrowing was awake or if his own panic had influenced his dreaming, but he followed the memories exactly: two breaths into Eiji's mouth, then a quick and steady rhythm of thirty deep compressions on his chest.

                Mezool leapt to the edge of the tank, kicking at Hina before trying to bring a flood down on Ankh and Eiji. Hina dove out of the water and tackled her to the floor, using every ounce of her power to keep a water bubble around her and keep her from attacking them.

                "You can't possibly think this is going to work, do you?" Mezool taunted. "That you can beat me? That Ankh can get OOO breathing again?"

                Hina felt herself faltering again, and Mezool took advantage of it to redirect some of the water toward the boys again. Hina threw out her arm to stop it, but that broke her concentration on the bubble, and Mezool broke free, leaping at her. She just had time to create a barrier of water between them, but she could feel the intense pull on the Medals inside her.

                "I'm eight-hundred years older than you," Mezool reminded her. "I know more about these Medals than you ever will. What could possibly make you believe you stand a chance against me?"

                She reached through the water, wrapping her hands around Hina's throat. Hina let the barrier drop and grabbed Mezool's wrists, pulling them away as hard as she could. Where in the dream, she'd been able to hold her own, in the real world, she only managed to pull them away enough so that she could breathe. She didn't have a chance.

                Ankh continued CPR on Eiji, keeping his focus entirely on him as he muttered, "Idiot, wake up. You can't die!"

                He stopped swearing at Eiji long enough to force two more breaths into him, then started pushing down on his chest again.

                "You said you were going to get my body back, remember?" he demanded. "How can you do that if you're dead?"

                Still nothing, and Ankh tried again. Two breaths, thirty pumps.

                "You have to live, you idiot," he pleaded. "Too much is counting on you! Hina's counting on you, I'm counting on you—you can't just give up!"

                He kept pushing, past the count of thirty, and harder than he'd been going, but he was becoming desperate. How long was this supposed to take? And how long before it was pointless? How long had Eiji been without oxygen—was it already too late?

                And then, just as his hope was wearing out, Eiji coughed, spitting up water.

                "Eiji!" Ankh cried in relief.

                Eiji was still coughing, so he turned him over so he wouldn't drown again on what was coming up. He let out a weak cry as Ankh started moving him and tried curling in on himself, slowly bringing his arms up to his chest.

                He was alive, but that was only half the battle. Hina was still fighting Mezool, and Shoko was barely holding the line against the other Greeed. And Eiji urgently needed medical attention for the injuries he'd taken and the lack of oxygen. They needed to escape, now.

                Ankh looked back at the tank. He knew what they needed, even if Eiji would object.

                He let out a fireball toward Mezool's face, giving Hina a chance to shove her away. But before Hina could make another attack, Ankh cried, "Hina! Medals!"

                She turned, looking at him in confusion, but he pointed at the tank. The same doubts flooded her brain, but she nodded, flicking her fingers and splashing them up, out of the water. Ankh caught them out of the air as they landed and started to load the OOO driver.

                Mezool pushed Hina against the tank. "I can't believe it," she said. "The OOO boy was finally free of those Medals—you're really going to put them back into him? He'll never forgive you!"

                Hina braced herself and nodded. "We'll have to live with it."

                "So cruel," Mezool decided before pressing her hand against Hina's chest and pulling at the Medals.

                Hina screamed and tried to push Mezool away again, but the Medals were tearing away no matter what she tried. She couldn't hold onto them any longer, nor did she want to. Not when they had cost her so much. She reached her arm out, toward Ankh and Eiji, even though she knew they were too far to help her.

                But Ankh's detached hand closed around her wrist, suddenly yanking her down. The Medals broke free from her, and her mermaid-like form fell apart into a pile of Cell Medals. Ankh flew for the Cores, but Mezool already had them in her hand. Knowing she had seconds to change things, Hina flung the Cell Medals at Mezool's face, surprising her into loosening her grip just long enough for Ankh to grab two of the Medals from her, then return to Shingo's body.

                "Wretched girl," Mezool cursed, but Hina scrambled backwards, trying to get away from her while Ankh strapped the driver on Eiji's body.

                "Listen," he said, pressing the last two purple Medals into Eiji's hand, against his chest. "I don't care what happens to you now. But all of our lives are at stake—do you understand?" Eiji was shaking too much to give him an answer, so he grabbed his face, forcing his eyes to focus on him. "Listen!" he shouted. "You _have_ to control this, or all of us are going to die—me, Hina, that other woman, we're all depending on you. Do you hear me, Eiji?"

                This time, Eiji let a choked, "Yes," bubble out from his lips. It was enough, and Ankh activated the Medals. Ice quickly spread across the floor, freezing both Hina and Mezool in place. Ankh reached over and grabbed Hina by the arm, tearing her free with a loud rip of fabric. She clung to the both of them as Ankh helped Eiji stand.

                "We need to get out of here," he told Eiji, who barely seemed aware enough to maintain control. But he extended his wings and rose, so Ankh turned his attention to Shoko, yelling, "We need to go!"

                She let out another blast from the Breast Cannon before putting in another Cell Medal and activating the wings. "Where?"

                Ankh reached up and blasted fire at the ceiling. Hina shrieked as parts of it crumbled down, toward the people awakening from their bubble nests, but Eiji let out a groan, extending his tail to swat the debris away.

                Shoko followed his lead, blasting a hole through, and PuToTyra flew up, Birth closely behind. They hovered for a moment, Eiji unclear where to go, but the hawk candroid flew up to them, leading the way back to the Kougami Foundation.

                They didn't even make it to the front door before Eiji dropped, his transformation failing. For a moment, he looked as lethargic as he had in the pool, but then all five Medals re-entered his body, and he let out a rasping cry. Hina struggled to hold him up as he began to fall forward, his eyes flashing purple as he started coughing up more water, his body cold. She glanced up at Ankh, scared, but he had no idea how to help.

                Before he had to figure it out, medics rushed out of the building and ran over to Eiji, loading him onto a stretcher. As the adrenaline wore off and Shoko began to sway, breaking her transformation, others went to steady her until they could get a wheelchair on the scene. Large trucks drove up, and the two were loaded in before the trucks sped off to the hospital. Other medics tried to look at Hina and Ankh, but she shook her head and he glared them away.

                And finally, it was just the two of them. Hina felt her gaze fall away from Ankh, the shame of all of her actions settling in.

                It was a different kind of shame for Ankh, and he said, "Hey," forcing her to look up. "You can't tell Eiji."

                She hesitated. As awful as she felt, knowing she'd betrayed his wishes and wellbeing this way, she couldn't help but feel like she had to tell him the truth.

                But a solemn darkness had overtaken Ankh's face, and he warned, "You know what he'll do if he knows."

                The truth hit her then—the only way to remove the Medals, it seemed, was for Eiji to die. If he even thought that it was necessary, that it would keep him from losing control again and hurting anyone, he might.

                She closed her eyes and nodded, and Ankh started to avert his gaze. They might have solved one problem about Eiji, but they didn't have any answers about themselves.

                Ankh finally walked past her, silently, leaving her all alone with her doubts and regrets.


	9. Out Of The Sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue. Running away from problems doesn't get you anywhere.

                It was at least a week before anyone was allowed to see Eiji.

                Not that it had stopped Ankh, of course. Every time the hospital tried to kick him out, he snuck his way back in. Finally, they relented, deciding he was much less trouble when actually underfoot. He sent Hina short texts to update her on Eiji's condition—when he was in surgery, when they took him off ventilation, when they reduced his medication... It was hard for her to understand, especially because Ankh himself didn't understand things like lowering Eiji's body temperature to preserve his brain cells or artificially inducing a coma.

                But it didn't mean that the rest of the world stopped. Shoko was discharged from her hospital stay quickly, and both she and Hina resumed class. Goto returned to Cous Coussier to fill in for Eiji's shifts, and Chiyoko asked every day about his progress. Then finally, Ankh sent a message that Eiji was awake and okay to have visitors, and suddenly everyone started reworking their schedules around him so they could drop in.

                But Hina always managed to find other responsibilities that put it off—she had to catch up on schoolwork, she had to clean up her apartment, she had to replace her broken furniture. It lasted until Shoko said that she wanted to visit after school and Chiyoko gave her a meal to bring to him. She had the funny feeling she was being set up, but she couldn't find any way to prove it.

                Her knuckles were white as she clutched her schoolbag, making her way down the hall. Ankh hadn't said anything about Eiji's condition, though both Chiyoko and Goto had said he looked well. Shoko was giving her a skeptical glance from her side, but she tried to ignore it and gather her frayed nerves.

                Then, from the open door, she heard Eiji complain, "Ankh, give it back!"

                Ankh scoffed. "You owe me ice cream, you know. This will work in the meantime."

                "Ankh..." Eiji sighed.

                Shoko stared for a moment, thrown off by the scene. She had seen Eiji floating lifelessly in the tank. She had heard Ankh's frantic shouts for Hina to stop. She had watched Eiji fly off in a daze, completely dependent on the candroid to guide him, then collapse in Hina's arms, coughing up his lungs. And yet here he was now, complaining in front of Ankh like nothing was wrong.

                Hina, on the other hand, felt a sense of relief. Eiji had his energy back and was well enough to argue. And Ankh felt comfortable enough about his health to pick on him. He was fine.

                She knocked on the door, and they froze. Eiji looked over and turned a faint pink while Ankh settled on a neutral expression.

                "Hina!" Eiji gasped. "And Shoko—come in!"

                He did look a lot better than she had feared. He was mostly sitting up in bed, though a pillow was still braced against his stomach for comfort. A bandage was still around his head, covering the cut on his temple, but the bruises on his face were turning yellow and beginning to fade, while the rest of his color was slowly returning to his face. The only other visible injuries were his arms—broken and protected with short arm casts in black. But he was awake and had life back in him. He was _alive_.

                "I hope we're not interrupting anything," Hina teased as she sat in a nearby chair.

                "Oh, no," Eiji insisted. "I was just eating lunch."

                He shot a pointed glare at Ankh, who had a small bowl of fruit salad—the entire reason behind the argument. But he turned back to Hina and asked, "How are you? I haven't heard anything since I woke up."

                A stab of guilt hit Hina—though Eiji hadn't meant it, his concern came almost like an accusation, one that was painfully true. She'd been running away from the uncomfortable again. She should have faced her fears and visited him much earlier.

                "I'm doing better," she admitted. "I'm back at school."

                Eiji waited for her to continue, hoping to hear more. But when she didn't add anything else, he answered, "Oh. That's really good, though." Trying to cover his disappointment, he looked over at Shoko and added, "How about you? I heard you were here for a bit..."

                "Only a day," she answered. "None of my injuries were serious, and I've been taking care of the pain with ice and medicine."

                "Try getting some compresses," he advised. "They always work for me."

                She laughed. "We'll see."

                Smiling, he added, "Ankh told me how you fought as Birth. It sounds like you did a great job."

                "Thanks," she replied, but now her smile was a little forced. "But I was really just the only one at the time who could do it. I'm glad I could help, but I think it's best if I leave the monsters to you guys."

                "Finally someone with some sense," Ankh said, coming over to pick at what was left on Eiji's tray. He noticed the bento box sticking out of Hina's bag and grabbed it. "What's this?"

                "Ankh!" she cried, suddenly sympathetic to Eiji's earlier complaints. "Chiyoko made that for Eiji!"

                He opened the lid and scowled at the sight of bright yellow arroz con pollo. Without a thought for the mess he'd make, he shoved it at Eiji, spilling some of the rice on him.

                "Ankh!" Eiji shouted, struggling to pick up the grains, while Hina and Shoko jumped up to help him.

                "You can have it," Ankh replied, his voice sour.

                "This is ridiculous," Eiji muttered as he put the bento on his tray.

                Ankh, however, sprawled himself across a chair, his bad mood evident. He pulled out his phone and started to scroll through it, trying to look uninterested, but it was clear that he was actually upset. Hina suddenly wondered how much he'd eaten in the past few days, if he hadn't left Eiji's side. Obviously, he was taking some of Eiji's meals, but he was a picky eater to begin with—was it enough?

                "I'll ask Chiyoko to pack something for you too next time," she offered.

                Ankh looked over at her, a hint of vulnerability in his wide, surprised eyes. Self-conscious, he pulled up his protective barriers and looked back at his phone, only answering, "Yeah."

                The awkwardness was tangible—a thick silence choking the air. Fed up with it, Shoko broke the tension by insisting, "Hina, you should show them your drawings."

                Hope lit up on Eiji's face. "You started designing again?"

                "It's just a bit," she admitted, blushing as she took out her sketchbook. "And most of it is based on my dream..."

                On each page, the roughly drawn models had been filled in with approximations of her friends, each dressed in a detailed outfit based on what she'd seen—Chiyoko in the fringed orange and turquoise party dress; Goto in a sculpted brown and blue coat and pants over a tank top, meant more for art than function; Shingo's practical vest and shirt with steel blue pants; Satonaka in the sundress; Hina herself in the oceanic gown.

                "You definitely didn't lose any of your talent," Eiji insisted. "I'm really, really glad to see you're not giving up on your dream."

                Hina had to smile now. Maybe he was right—the design ideas had come instinctively, and it was harder on her to suppress the images than envision them.

                As Eiji started to turn to the next page, she looked up at Ankh and said, "I'd like you to see these ones."

                Suspicion all over his face, he got up and walked next to Eiji, not sure what to expect. But the next few pages revealed a set of dramatic, red formalwear for men—the scarlet frock coat Ankh had worn; a reinterpretation of a jerkin in oxblood; and a dress shirt the color of cardinal feathers, paired with a black, military-style tunic coat. His face softened, but from a wild sense of confusion—why? After everything that happened between them, why this?

                Eiji was oblivious to the context and, by extension, Ankh's inner turmoil. A bright grin spread across his face as he turned each page, fading only when he reached an unfinished sketch marked with several notes. It was an emerald bodice with lines pointing to it, asking, "jewels? sequins?" in Hina's handwriting. Connected to the bodice was a layered skirt that ended just above the model's knee, colored in shades of green and blue. Another note to the side read, "tissue weight," with a list of materials to try and effects the layering might make.

                "What's this?" he asked.

                "A new design for my green dress," she said. When he still looked confused, she explained, "It was never meant to get as wet as it did. A lot of the color is fading. I wanted to save what I could, but then the skirt ripped when we escaped..."

                "Oh," he answered sadly, looking down in shame. "I'm sorry."

                She shook her head, insisting, "It's not your fault," hearing the pump of her blood in her ears .

                Eiji didn't notice, admitting, "To tell the truth, I don't remember a lot of what happened after. I didn't even know why I was in the hospital—Ankh had to fill me in when I woke up."

                Hina peered over at Ankh, but he refused to make eye contact. That didn't tell her anything about how much he'd said. But it also didn't tell her if Eiji was telling the full truth either.

                She tried to reach for her sketchbook at the same time he tried to give it back to her. One or both of them fumbled, and the next thing they knew, their hands were touching and hearts pounding. Hina's face burned bright red while Eiji held perfectly still, his eyes wide and almost frightened. How much _did_ he really remember of what happened that night?

                A dark look crossed Ankh's face, even as Eiji pulled his hand back quickly. A cruel, jealous impulse struck him, and before either of them had the chance to stop him, he grabbed Eiji's face and kissed him.             

                It lasted longer than it should have, or maybe they'd lost track of time because of the others' eyes on them. Shoko looked deeply uncomfortable and desperate to escape. But Hina had a vague expression of hurt on her face, and as Ankh backed away from Eiji, he couldn't seem to relish it as he usually would. The wound had cut deep, and he realized at last that he had no idea who he had been jealous _of_.

                "We should probably go," Shoko decided, taking Hina by the shoulders and guiding her out of the room. "Take care, Hino."

                Eiji didn't reply, too stunned to do anything. Hina watched him as she walked out, looking over from him to Ankh, who had retreated to his chair with the flinching gait of someone who knew he'd crossed a line.

                There was nothing else to say, and Eiji was left with a familiar tightness in his chest and the silence of his Medals, but not aimed at the person it had been before.

                He did everything he could to avoid looking at Ankh. If it had just been Hina, it would have been bad enough, but how could he confide in either of them about the Medals now?

                He couldn't. He couldn't ask this of them, or throw off their tenuous relationships with him any more than he already had. It had to be his burden to bear, no matter how much harder it had just become.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic got a little dark, I admit. I'd originally intended it as a lighthearded mermaid semi-AU with an overarching plot, while also dealing more with the aftermath of Hina's lost dream. But then things became a lot harder in my real life, including a lot of writer's block and constant rewrites, and that frustration bled into it. I managed to write up to about chapter 6 for NaNoWriMo, but things got dark again because I struggled with the end. Still, I feel better about what I've created, and maybe someday I can make something lighter out of this idea.
> 
> Titles all come from "Part of Your World" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" from Disney's _The Little Mermaid_ , while there are influences in the story and details from both that and Hans Christian Andersen's original fairytale (particularly the seafoam). Additional notes can be found on my journal, akinoame.dreamwidth.org


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